Before thousands of people in Los Angeles lost their homes in the recent deadly wildfires, many of them had lost their insurance.

William Brangham recently spent time in the region to better understand the state's insurance crisis, as costs rise dramatically and coverage shrinks.

As William reports, there is no easy fix, especially in a world dealing with

the long-term impacts of climate change. So your place was right here. Right here on the corner.

This is all that's left of Peggy Holter's home of 47 years. Her townhouse, tucked in the hills

of the Pacific Palisades, is now unrecognizable.

It's really hard on my son because he was born in this house and went to school, lived his whole life.

You know, he said, these were the stairs where I waited outside after school for you to come and pick me up.

In a matter of hours last month, the Palisades Fire consumed her whole neighborhood.

It left just a few small reminders of the past, like this tea set she was given as a child.

For now, this retired journalist is staying with her son.

I just don't know.

And as somebody who's always known what I was going to do

and where I was going to be and all that stuff all my life,

it just seems like there's a blank in my future.

Your life savings was in this property.

Yeah, exactly.

And you're not going to get any of that, nearly all of that back.

No.

Holter says that's because her insurance company, State Farm, dropped her policy last year.

They cited the condition of her roof, something only her homeowners association, could address.

It was part of a massive insurance retreat from this area. In 2023, State Farm,

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