California Wildfire Recovery: A Tale of Two Counties
California Wildfire Recovery: A Tale of Two Counties

NPQ has written before about how disasters tend to exacerbate existing economic inequality. Now, from Sara Viner of High Country News comes a story about California wildfires that reinforces this message. Examining two recent major California fires—the 2015 Valley Fire and the 2017 North Bay…
California’s Fires Hit Rich and Poor Communities. Guess Which Ones Are Recovering Faster.
California’s Fires Hit Rich and Poor Communities. Guess Which Ones Are Recovering Faster.

Fires are indiscriminate. Recovery isn’t. On the afternoon of September 12, 2015, the Valley Fire erupted near the outskirts of Cobb, California, an unincorporated community shadowed by Cobb Mountain in the Northern Interior of California. The fire grew so rapidly that it trapped the first…
Fires are indiscriminate. Recovery isn’t.
Fires are indiscriminate. Recovery isn’t.

On the afternoon of Sept. 12, 2015, the Valley Fire erupted near the outskirts of Cobb, California, an unincorporated community shadowed by Cobb Mountain in the Northern Interior of California. The fire grew so rapidly that it trapped the first responders from CalFire’s Helitack Crew…
Fanning The Flames Over Homeowners’ Fire Insurance Woes
Fanning The Flames Over Homeowners’ Fire Insurance Woes

Sonora, CA — Increasing difficulties homeowners and would-be buyers are experiencing with fire insurance has Mother Lode realtors, insurers, and government officials abuzz. Tuesday at the Tuolumne County Association of Realtors TCAR) Office, members who attended the recent California Association of Realtors CAR) Legislative Day…
I Wish It Would’ve Burned’: Navigating Insurance When Your Home Survives a Wildfire
I Wish It Would’ve Burned’: Navigating Insurance When Your Home Survives a Wildfire

After Misty Attaway and her family were forced to flee from the Camp Fire on the morning of Nov. 8, she heard some shocking news: Her home in Paradise, unlike much of the rest of the town, had survived. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m…
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara Holds Malibu Town Hall
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara Holds Malibu Town Hall

Even six months after the Woolsey Fire, some fire victims are still having difficulties collecting what they’re owed by their insurers; that includes residents with partial damage to their homes as well as those experiencing total losses. To help smooth the way, California’s top insurance…
How to make insurance affordable under climate change
How to make insurance affordable under climate change

Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance firm, lost $24 billion from last year’s California wildfires, and it says global warming made a “significant contribution.” Insurer Lloyd’s of London found warmer oceans, caused by climate change, made for a 30 percent increase in storm surge damage…
Insurance Coverage Drying Up As California Wildfire Recovery Drags On
Insurance Coverage Drying Up As California Wildfire Recovery Drags On

After the Tubbs Fire reduced their Santa Rosa, Calif., home to ash in October 2017, Chris Keys and his wife, Sara Jakel-Keys, said deciding to rebuild was easy. But a year and a half after the fire, the road to normalcy has proved longer and…
For California Fire Survivors, Rebuilding Can Be Long And Painful
For California Fire Survivors, Rebuilding Can Be Long And Painful

After the Tubbs fire reduced their Santa Rosa home to ash in October 2017, Chris Keys and his wife Sara Jakel Keys say deciding to rebuild was easy. But a year and a half later, the road to normalcy has proven longer and more painful…
Techquake: The Biggest Threat to California’s Tech-Sector May Lie Directly Beneath its Feet
Techquake: The Biggest Threat to California’s Tech-Sector May Lie Directly Beneath its Feet

California’s technology sector has had a tough year with state and federal policymakers, to say nothing of the general public. Concerns about the size and scope of internet firms have led to a “techlash,” bringing with it uncomfortable hearings and the resurrection of truly noxious…
Two Sonoma County men file lawsuit, urging state to protect fire survivors from unlicensed adjusters
Two Sonoma County men file lawsuit, urging state to protect fire survivors from unlicensed adjusters

Two Sonoma County men are suing the California Department of Insurance for allegedly allowing out-of-state insurance adjusters to work illegally in the state without proper registration, enabling unsupervised adjusters to dole out costly bad advice to wildfire survivors. Plaintiffs Jeff Sengstack, who lost his Santa…
Wildfires make it harder for California homeowners to get insurance
Wildfires make it harder for California homeowners to get insurance

As the cost and risk of California wildfires grow, it’s getting harder for homeowners to get and keep insurance in fire-prone regions including the Sierra foothills, Tahoe and some parts of the Bay Area. Homeowners rejected by mainstream companies are turning in greater numbers to…
Wildfire Took Your Home? Don’t Count on Insurance Rebuilding It
Wildfire Took Your Home? Don’t Count on Insurance Rebuilding It

Own a home? No doubt you’ve insured it. Very sensible of you. But if that home were, say, burned to the ground, then your insurance company probably wouldn’t cover the cost of rebuilding it. Don’t feel too bad, though. It’s only partly your fault. Two-thirds…
Midwest floods: Ruptured levees could cost billions to repair
Midwest floods: Ruptured levees could cost billions to repair

Almost half of the country lives near a levee, and 12 have already failed during spring flooding Critics blame Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA for broken levees flooding the Midwest The levees “were set up to fail,” says flood insurance expert The small town…
Sonoma County Flood Damage Estimated At $155M
Sonoma County Flood Damage Estimated At $155M

The county and at least two cities have declared local emergencies. A Local Assistance Center is now open in Guerneville. SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Days of heavy rains and flooding along the Russian River have caused an estimated $155 million in damage across Sonoma County,…
Latest North Bay disaster underscores growing need for flood insurance
Latest North Bay disaster underscores growing need for flood insurance

After reeling from property damage caused by recent wildfires, North Bay residents now are confronting another natural disaster in flooding — a threat that is not covered by property insurance and which could escalate as storms become more volatile in a changing climate. Unlike fire-related…
Support Center For Residents Impacted By Storms
Support Center For Residents Impacted By Storms

A local assistance center will open Sunday in Guerneville to provide services to Sonoma County residents affected by recent storms and flooding. Government agencies and nonprofits will be represented at the center, and all county residents can access services regardless of immigration status, according to…
Groups Petition CA Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara To Ban Use of Occupation and Education to Price Auto Insurance
Groups Petition CA Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara To Ban Use of Occupation and Education to Price Auto Insurance

Community organizations representing consumers, low-income workers and communities of color petitioned Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara today to ban the use of occupation and education to set auto insurance premiums. Many California auto insurance companies charge lower-income and less-educated drivers up to 15% more in order…