Förödande skogsbrand i Los Angeles – invånare flyr i panik; försäkringsproblem

SvT 8 januari 2025

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/forodande-skogsbrand-i-los-angeles-invanare-flyr-i-panik

Skogsbränder härjar i Kalifornien

SvD/TT 8 januari 2025

https://www.svd.se/a/4B0l5V/30000-ska-evakuera-i-kalifornien

Thousands told to abandon homes as huge wildfire rips through Los Angeles suburbs

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5y81zyp1ext

A perfect storm; Los Angeles is burning

By January 8th, the biggest fire burned across nearly 3,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades, a wealthy neighbourhood on the coast, causing at least 30,000 people to flee their homes. 

Local officials ordered parts of Santa Monica, home to about 90,000 people, to evacuate too. 

Until recently, January wouldn’t have been considered part of fire season, even in fire-prone California. 

The ordeal reminds Angelenos of their vulnerability. 

At any given time Los Angeles is at risk of fire, flood, extreme heat, mudslides and earthquakes. 

A county of nearly 10m people

The Economist 8 January 2025

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/01/08/los-angeles-is-burning

 

The Palisades fire was primed to explode from what fire officials call a perfect storm of dry vegetation and high winds blowing flames into a heavily populated area. 

But what makes this fire so unusual is its timing, in January, when the California rainy season typically extinguishes the threat of infernos until spring.

Sixteen of the 20 most destructive fires on record in California have broken out in the past decade

Wall Street Journal 8 January 2025

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/pacific-palisades-fire-los-angeles-update-d990ea4e

California will be ground zero for a sweeping financial crisis.

The most populous US state, home to Hollywood, Silicon Valley and a real estate market worth more than $9 trillion, will be ground zero for a sweeping financial crisis.

Not long ago, they and homeowners in natural disaster regions around the US would have almost certainly had insurance through a big, national company 

Homeowners in the most risky places are now more likely to be covered by state-created, “last resort” insurance programs that provide protection where the private market won’t.

Their liabilities crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time in 2022,

As of now, Florida’s plan could suffer $525 billion in losses; In California, it’s at least $290 billion, up sixfold from 2018.

It’s hard to overstate the role that insurance plays in the modern American economy. 

Banks won’t make mortgage loans for uninsurable properties; without those loans, the real estate market slows to a crawl, which in turn eats away household wealth and the tax revenue that state and local governments rely on.

Bloomberg 5 March 2024

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-home-insurance-real-estate-crisis/

Tillbaka till Rolfs länktips 8 januari 2025

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2025/01/rolfs-lanktips-8-januari-2025.html