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Is the world becoming uninsurable?

(charleshughsmith.substack.com)
478 points spking | 4 comments | 17 Jan 25 00:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.763s | source
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tobyhinloopen ◴[17 Jan 25 07:13 UTC] No.42734903[source]▶
American, living in area prone to natural disasters: "Is the WHOLE WORLD becoming uninsurable?"

The answer is obviously "no" since there are other parts of the world that don't live on a hurricane highway nor build houses made from firewood in an area prone to wildfires.

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1. api ◴[17 Jan 25 13:35 UTC] No.42737348[source]▶
There were houses that survived recent wildfires because they were built to be in a fire zone and survive fires. I’m sure there was damage but nowhere near total loss.

I’m sure when homes are rebuilt the majority will not be fire resistant.

It’s possible to build for hurricanes and floods too but few do it. They build houses that get blown away and then tap insurance.

Insurance rates for properties not built to withstand the stresses of their environment will go up.

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2. briffle ◴[17 Jan 25 15:26 UTC] No.42738501[source]▶
we had a huge wildfire in my area in 2021 that burned through a few small towns. In one town, the only houses that survived where the ones that followed the guides out there for creating defensible space. They were also newer homes, which is obviously easier then retro-fitting an existing home, but the town got rebuilt essentially the same as it was, which is kind of sad to see.

https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_mars...

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3. api ◴[17 Jan 25 15:27 UTC] No.42738518[source]▶
We don't do this in e.g. aviation, where after every crash we study it and make changes if possible. Not sure why we don't seem to care in housing.
4. lern_too_spel ◴[17 Jan 25 19:15 UTC] No.42742133[source]▶
> I’m sure when homes are rebuilt the majority will not be fire resistant

They are required to be: https://heatmap.news/climate/california-wildfire-building-co...

The problem is that in many desirable places to live in California, many houses are very old and are not compliant with the latest building codes.