The devastation whipped up by the deadly wildfires in Los Angeles has left at least 24 people dead, more than 40,000 acres burned and an entire region at the center of what is forecasted to be among the most destructive in U.S. history.
It also laid bare the faulty insurance system that will greet evacuees looking to rebuild their homes and businesses from what is projected to be one of the costliest fires in history, according to The Washington Post's editorial board.
The publication’s seven-member board on Tuesday came out swinging against the state’s insurance system, which it blasted as offering “inadequate answers” to property owners who have watched insurance companies flee the state because of the financial risks from persistent wildfires.
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“L.A.’s nightmare should serve as a warning to other states: Climate change is crushing insurance markets, and the solution is not to artificially lower premiums or rely on public options,” the board wrote in an opinion piece published Tuesday. “States must act to protect homeowners from hazards — before the next natural disaster strikes.”
And it's not just Californians that should be worried. The board concluded Tuesday that the state’s “insurance crisis” – which it pointed out was "made worse by lack of adequate coverage" doesn’t just affect California, but should also be a wake-up call for the entire country.
The editorial board told readers that enrollment in the state’s public stopgap insurance program “has more than doubled” in the past four years. However, the program has access to only $700 million and about $2.5 billion in reinsurance, the board added.
“But the program is exposed to nearly $6 billion of assets at risk in the Pacific Palisades alone,” they said. And there’s a real possibility that the program “could become insolvent,” which in the board’s opinion would be “a calamity” for the state.
Early estimates place the losses from the destruction between $135 billion and $150 billion – so far. The board said that the scale of the damage is attributed to "a combination of factors: the breadth, duration and intensity of the fires in densely populated neighborhoods of relatively expensive homes."