It is almost like we already have a home ownership crisis or or something. NYT in the clouds once again.
What’s going on here is that Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic Senator, held a hearing which made data about insurance drops and rate increases public. That’s creating a news cycle about it
I don’t wish misfortune on any person but, this is a good thing. Yes, there is a housing crisis, but part of that crisis is where and what we are constructing. If we are utilizing resources (whether it’s capital, labor, or materials) to reconstruct buildings every 3-10 years then those resources cannot be use to construct more sustainable housing.
Part of the problem is the way the flood insurance subsidization program works. Don’t get me wrong. Insurance needs to be affordable, but the program needs to adjusted so that when a claim is made in the highest risk areas, the payout is sufficient to relocate the insuree to less risky property, and the claimed property could be transferred to the department of the interior or other entity responsible for converting the land to a flood mitigation zone. (Likely reverting it back to the wetlands that were drained to build in the first place).
I wouldn’t even know where to start with fire risk zones…
For fire risk the premiums should be sufficient to allow insurance companies to do the mitigation work like vegetation clearing and controlled burns. Or pay into a fund that has state wildlands fire departments like cal fire do the work since they’re also the ones that fight the fires. It can also turn into a employment boom for young able bodied folks.
Oh look, the hard unavoidable consequences of “it’s just a few degrees”
If my house was destroyed due to climate disaster and all my livelihood and possessions were gone, and the insurance I was paying had the audacity to tell me they removed my insurance I would luigi their entire board of executives.
“They may cuss us out,” Mr. Taylor said. “But they never stop building.”
One of the problem is new properties should not be allowed to be built in such areas. Others should be kind of grand-fathered, but I understand if insurers are being bankrupted, there is a problem somewhere.
