Cinda Larimer was delivering newspapers on a cool November morning in Paradise, California, when she noticed something softly float down from the sky: ash.
“I knew that was bad,” she told me. “That’s when I called my work and said I gotta go.” She had survived four previous fires in Paradise, which sits in the foothills about 90 miles north of Sacramento, so she had her routine down: She grabbed some essentials and piled into her minivan with her boyfriend, 17-year-old godson, four cats, turtle, and dog. The Camp Fire engulfed her town that day in 2018 — 85 of her neighbors died. Larimer’s rented trailer home burned to the ground, forcing her family to convert their minivan into a new home.
Larimer spent the past few years bouncing between a friend’s garage and motels before finally settling back into a trailer home in Paradise. She and other survivors of the Camp Fire, many of them retirees on fixed incomes, are struggling to rebuild and afford housing — many are still homeless. Those who do have homes are now faced with a jarring predicament: No one wants to insure them. As more people lose their homes to climate disasters, insurance companies are refusing to renew policies and backing out of entire states.
Anthony Roach, a friend of Larimer’s who’s a retired Navy veteran, survived the Camp Fire with his home intact. But earlier this year, his insurance company canceled his policy. “I’ve been on the phone all morning with my agent, and they are giving him the runaround as well,” he told me. The turn of events has made Roach question whether he should stay in Paradise.
The problem isn’t limited to California: As the risk of wildfires, severe storms, and flooding increases because of the climate crisis, homeowners across the country are struggling to insure their homes. Insurers are pulling out of risky markets and jacking up rates, leaving homeowners with policies that are unaffordable or nonexistent. The suddenly chaotic home-insurance market is one of the clearest financial signs yet that the climate crisis is already here — and its economic impact is only going to get worse.
Climate crisis= crap.. the earth has been heating and cooling for billions of years…we were supposed to freeze to death back in the 70’s… still waiting…Gore made predictions.. still waiting..that annoying whiny screaming greata teen girl did too.. all a bunch of BS. Climate change is the biggest money making scheme, and will be the way governments will supress and have total control over people. It’s coming soon!
The BIDEN CRISIS !!!!