New for the Week of 2023-05-29

The Prepared Support - June 1, 2023

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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Prepper Chat Night is this Friday evening, June 2, on Discord at 6PM Pacific / 9PM Eastern. Join our Discord now at this link so you’ll be ready when the event starts:

https://discord.gg/GvCBmghKPY

Prepper Chat Nights are on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month.

 

Financial peril looms nationwide as hurricane season starts

URL: https://www.eenews.net/articles/financial-peril-looms-nationwide-as-hurricane-season-starts/

TL;DR – FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund is running low, and so are the three Florida programs that backstop the private insurance market in various ways. Texas and Louisiana also have  state programs that are underfunded. With the state programs, the upshot appears to be that recent hurricanes have both drained the public funds and prompted private insurance companies to drop more and more properties and areas from their coverage. As a result, the state insurers’ exposure is going up (as they have to cover more properties that the private market won’t) even as their reserves dwindled. There are mechanisms in place to raise more money, but it seems as though it will be difficult to fill the gap using these methods. 

They don’t talk about this in the article (which is pegged to the start of hurricane season this week), but a version of this is either coming or already unfolding in the West re: wildfire. Besides that, I think the only thing I would add is, “Yikes.”

 

“prompted private insurance companies to drop more and more properties and areas from their coverage”

I live in Florida and can confirm that this has been happening for years. I often hear coworkers talking about losing home insurance coverage, typically around the start of hurricane season, and struggling to find a new company.

 

I was wondering how much you’d seen/heard about this. Same thing is happening out here over wildfire, though I haven’t heard much talk about it actually happening to folks in my network (just some friends up in WA for whom the “no insurance line” is now within like a half mile of their home, though they are still covered). I think that’s because I don’t know many people who live in the WUI. I’m sure it’s happening in the Sierra foothills. And then there is the whole State Farm thing, which I was going to post here last week:

State Farm stops home insurance sales in California, citing wildfire risks

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/28/business/state-farm-california-insurance-wildfire/index.html

In this case, current policyholders are unaffected, but it’s still a huge deal, esp. if other insurers follow suit. 

 

Oh here’s a much better article on the State Farm sitch. I really like Cal Matters for analytical journalism affecting CA:

https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/05/state-farm-california-insurance/

 

“I was wondering how much you’d seen/heard about this”

I have coworkers on both coasts. A coworker on the west coast needed a full roof replacement due to last year’s hurricane, which was covered by insurance. A coworker on the east coast reported that homeowner’s insurance doubled. And several coworkers have reported dropped coverage over the last few years. These signs all point the same direction – hurricanes are increasing the cost of owning a home in Florida.

 

How prepared is the Middle East for extreme heat waves?

https://www.dw.com/en/how-prepared-is-the-middle-east-for-extreme-heat-waves/a-65809955?

“As intense heat becomes more frequent, the Middle East will see a rise in heat-related deaths. Even though the region lags in public health planning, experts say it has a lot to teach us about surviving extreme weather.”

“”Even though extreme heat is the deadliest meteorological hazard in an average year, it often is underestimated or ignored.”

“When the thermometer threatens to rise over a baking 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in Iraq, locals usually get a holiday and are told to stay inside.”

“They also always tell us to put bowls of water out under the trees for the birds and other animals.”

“To respond effectively to this threat, governments need to have a clear course of action to increase awareness, preparedness and resilience.”

 

Caribou Meat and Moon Signs: Inuit Lessons for Soldiers in the Arctic
Humbled by centuries of fatal colonial expeditions, Canada’s military is learning Arctic survival strategies from the austere area’s only inhabitants.

 

What a great read. Thanks.