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Climate One

Risky Business: Underinsured Against Climate Disaster

Climate One

Climate One

News Commentary, Earth Sciences, Social Sciences, Science, News

4.7585 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of people in high-risk disaster areas across the US have been dropped from their insurance policies, leaving them both physically and financially vulnerable. At the same time, premiums have sky-rocketed, making insuring homes and businesses out of reach for many. And federal insurance and relief programs have come under scrutiny for payouts that contribute to inequality.   The insurance industry wasn’t set up to account for climate change, which is increasing the frequency, scale and severity of disaster claims. From Hurricane Ian flooding communities across the coast of Florida to fires in the Pacific Northwest, and further storm damage from Puerto Rico to Nova Scotia, we’ve seen frequent and fierce weather take lives and devastate communities. As more people and property face loss due to extreme weather events, who will pay to protect and rebuild communities? And what policies are being constructed to help the insurance industry stay afloat?  Guests: Junia Howell, Urban Sociologist, University of Illinois Chicago Simon Young, Senior Director, Climate and Resilience Hub, Willis Towers Watson Carolyn Kousky, Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy, Environmental Defense Fund; author of Understanding Disaster Insurance: New Tools for a More Resilient Future Umair Irfan, Climate and Covid Reporter, VOX Eric Letvin, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Mitigation, FEMA For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hear that? It's your big McDonald's hunger calling, because the big arch is back, and this time

0:05.3

is here to stay with juicy beef, cheddar cheese and that big arch sauce. Hungry? You are now.

0:11.6

Order delivery on the McDonald's app.

0:15.2

Serve from 11am, upcharges and fees apply to delivery orders. Subjects availability, price and participation may vary.

0:20.7

This is Climate 1. I'm Greg Dalton. Around the world, climate-induced disasters are

0:25.8

increasingly wreaking havoc on people's lives, livelihoods, and property. You know, if you don't

0:31.1

want to believe the climate scientists believe the insurance companies, because they have a financial

0:34.7

stake in this, and they're the ones that are looking at the risk, and they 100% believe that climate change is real. But most of today's insurance isn't well designed

0:42.5

to respond quickly to disasters, meaning people may wait months or years for financial assistance.

0:49.0

And if you have huge expenses, you can't pay, you don't have the savings, you don't have a loan,

0:53.3

you don't have any way to handle it, then people can really start to spiral into really terrible financial

0:57.9

situations. There are alternative models to consider if we can put them into practice.

1:03.9

If we aren't thinking extremely creatively, I fear that we are too many decades behind

1:10.0

to actually get to the level of solution that we need to.

1:13.3

Underinsured against climate disaster. Up next on Climate One.

1:20.4

Home and property insurance is complicated and typically boring until a disaster happens to you.

1:26.6

Hurricane Fiona just flooded Puerto Rico with

1:28.8

heavy rain and high winds, knocking out power to the entire island, before moving north to become

1:34.7

the strongest storm in Canadian history when it hit the coast of eastern Nova Scotia.

1:40.0

As of this taping, tropical storm Ian has already brought historic flooding, damage, and power outages to Florida,

1:46.7

and is expected to strengthen back into a hurricane.

1:50.7

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of people in high-risk disaster areas across the U.S.

...

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