this is horrifying, and it has. been. coming. (tbc not shading OP but policy makers). I learned a little about federal flood insurance while researching Katrina. Everyone knows it's out of date, but if they change it, current home owners can't sell ->mostly can't buy new homes. If they don't...
Here's basically what happened: my insurance company saw the writing on the wall for California. Floods, fires, quakes, and rising seas, coupled with the highest home prices in the country. They did the math, and they decided it was cheaper to leave the state altogether. So they did.
This is what I mean when I say we're looking at the problem at least partially in the wrong way. We're going to have to deal with huge disruption, & instead of thinking about how to cushion people through that, techbros and govts keep looking for ✨technology✨ to solve everything with no effort
We need to be figuring out how we help the people who lose everything, the people who have no place to move to, the people who can't access services, the people who invested in a stable society. Instead, it's blabla the economy blabla AI blabla just so they can keep profiting as long as possible
Right. Ignoring whose name is on what deeds now, the fact is we live in a society where a lot of current housing is not going to contain residents in the future. Climate is a systemic problem and we should be building the housing we'll need in the future now, not waiting for individual transactions.
Ok disclaimer I haven’t looked up the exact numbers in DECADES… but like 70%+ of the global population lives in locations less than (I remember 4’ but it might be 1m converted) of sea level and able to be impacted by sea level rise (coastal cities or on rivers connected to the sea)
(I was working on a video game involving post-apocalyptic submarines and had to figure out what cities we could feasibly submerge. I remember giving myself nightmares when I realized even > a foot of sea level rise would make large swaths of cities across the world only accessible at low tide)
I was reading Meredith Broussard’s Automated Inequality the other day. Her chapter on technochauvinism as the solution to every social problem really nails this.
This kind of stuff is why I half-believe that southern state (especially SE seaboard and gulf-adjacent) governors are just intentionally mismanaging things, making a conscious effort to drive people to leave voluntarily before it becomes an evacuation / bailout for everyone left behind
Insurance has not been a resource people need in my lifetime. It constantly saps the money families need to live and it never bails families out when needed. Always a reason for a claim to be denied, never an excuse accepted when their payment is due.
We’re going through a claim now that is completely 100% covered by our policy, no ambiguity. It’s hell. Frex: the wiring is out of code. Wiring must be up to code in the repaired walls. BUT the wiring was not directly damaged in The Incident, so they won’t pay. WE pay thousands or they pay nothing.
I'm so anxious about this. We were informed we aren't on our insurance's drop list *this* year, but I think we will be eventually, because fire danger. And the price keeps rising...
I worked in data services co w ins underwriters as customer base. Insurance industry is way ahead on crunching data to know how to stay in business. Speed of major catastrophes threatens the entire P&C industry. Objectively, it’s understandable. For humans (as well as ins ind) it’s unsustainable
TBH, I don’t see how mortgage vendors aren’t lobbying hard for measures to ameliorate climate change, bcs no insurance=no loan. Real estate likewise. Lack of “big picture” understanding in these industries (as well as others) is appalling. It’s almost as if modern capitalism is a doomsday machine.
Incentives are misaligned because mortgage originators generally do not hold the loan for the long term. So once the borrower closes and then the loan is assigned to a servicer, the originator gets paid and doesn't care what happens after
Yes, you’re right ofc. The entire financial system for regular consumers seems to be intentionally designed to pass along accountability until the concept has no meaning anymore. However, at some point, it will all coming crashing down (again). Climate-induced crash will be bigger than just banks.
Flood insurance adjuster checking in. The state of the industry? I keep my FCN active every year because I know if my first love (journalism) doesn't pan out that climate change will ensure job security for the rest of my professional life. Now tell me if that's not the darkest thing ever
Me and my adjuster friends have *tons* of ideas on how to restructure the NFIP haha. Though as much as flood insurance itself plays a part, local flood zone maps also need to be overhauled, infrastructure needs to be built differently, and developers need to be regulated on where/how they can build
Are you hearing about issues in Colorado? I'm in Durango and currently trying to replace insurance from a company (Farmers) that is pulling out of housing and car insurance in the state.
I believe Colorado’s issues that make the insurance companies not like it are wildfires (climate change) and possibly destructive storms (also climate change)
Yet another step towards capitalism's future: a handful of ultra-rich living in protected enclaves, and the rest of us struggling for survival in the wasteland
