US insurance industry suffers worst loss as wildfires rage

As wildfires in California burn hundreds of thousands of acres and threaten houses, US home insurers reported their biggest loss of the century last year. 

A report by AM Best, a credit rating agency, said that "the segment suffered a $15.2 billion underwriting loss in 2023, more than double the losses seen in the previous year. The 2023 loss was also the worst this century, with $14.8 billion in losses in 2011 the next highest."

In 2023, there were a record 28 weather and climate disasters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with total damages of at least $92.9 billion. For comparison, the annual average for such events between 1980 and 2023 was 8.5.

While CLM (Claims and Litigation Management), an organization for claims and litigation professionals, estimated that Hurricane Beryl, on the US Gulf Coast, the first hurricane of 2024, would cost the US insurance industry between $2.5 billion and $4.5 billion, more than 100 wildfires are raging in the United States, with the largest burning in California.

According to California fire officials, the Park Fire, the sixth-largest wildfire in California history, had burned more than 370,000 acres as of Monday — an area larger than the city of Phoenix — with 134 structures destroyed.

Another wildfire, the Borel Fire, destroyed the historic mining community of Havilah, where only a few buildings were left standing, according to the Los Angeles Times. An evacuation order was in effect for the town with a population of 250.

In total, more than 726,000 acres have burned in the state this year as of Monday, with 232 structures destroyed, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). 

In Oregon, the 2024 wildfire season so far has burned 1,142,727 acres, according to the Oregon Fires and Hotspots Dashboard. The Durkee Fire, the largest active blaze, has burned almost 300,000 acres, with 23 structures destroyed.

Multiple fires also are burning in Utah and Colorado.

A wildfire in the Canadian Rockies' largest national park is still not controlled, according to the Jasper National Park Facebook page. An estimated 30 percent of houses and businesses in the popular Canadian resort town of Jasper, Alberta, were incinerated as a wildfire continued to roar through the area.  The fire forced thousands of visitors, seasonal workers and residents to flee Jasper. 

The AM Best report said one of the major reasons for the increased losses is population migration into areas where weather-related events are occurring more frequently.

"The US population overall grew 7.4 percent between 2010-2020 but rose 10.2 percent in the South and 9.2 percent in the West during the period," said David Blades, associate director of industry research and analytics at AM Best. "Population trends show residents increasingly moving toward regions that are more prone to hurricanes, severe convective storms or even wildfires."

According to the US census, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Washington accounted for 53 percent of US population growth between 2010 and 2020. All six states are prone to severe weather-related events.

Christopher Graham, senior industry analyst at AM Best, said in a company video that if the Category 5 Hurricane Andrew in 1992 occurred today, the damage could double due to population growth. At $58.6 billion in damages, Hurricane Andrew is rated as the most costly catastrophe for the US between 1900-2023.

For the flood-prone South, more buildings mean less nature to absorb rainfall, thus causing more flooding, according to Graham.

"The same goes for California with the wildfires. Building in areas more prone to wildfires and then human activities create more wildfires" and "there are a whole lot of human activities in the area that's prone to catastrophes exacerbating catastrophes," Graham said.

In the Park Fire, Ronnie Stout, 42, has been arrested and accused of starting the blaze. Stout is suspected of pushing a burning car 60 feet into a gully and causing the inferno, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said.

Some insurance companies aren't writing new policies or are pulling out of the areas prone to catastrophes, said Graham.

For example, State Farm, the largest homeowners insurance company in the US, will stop covering more than 72,000 homes and apartments in California this summer. The company said the decision is due to soaring costs, increasing wildfire risks and outdated regulations, The Orange County Register reported.

Agencies contributed to this story.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com