“Whenever I felt confused about any topic I first looked it up in the yellow book. Then I could go deeper based on what I read. Or I knew when to call it good.”
UP in the News
July 11, 2019
Work to remove ash and debris from last year's destructive Hill and Woolsey fires has wrapped up, clearing the way for many homeowners to start to rebuild, officials said Wednesday.
Calling it a monumental milestone, state and local officials were in Agoura Hills to talk about the multi-agency effort to clean up the properties. Work started in January after three fires destroyed thousands of...
As posted at: VC Star
July 9, 2019
Glenn Pomeroy, head of the California Earthquake Authority, spent the weekend in Ridgecrest, near the epicenter of Friday’s 7.1-magnitude quake and its day-earlier, 6.4-magnitude baby brother.
“Driving around, you could clearly see there had been a disaster,” he told me. “Streetlights were blinking, stores were closed, the ground was still shaking.”
But the people of Ridgecrest and nearby...
As posted at: LA Times
July 9, 2019
It’s an unnerving time to be in California. With two large earthquakes hitting Southern California within 34 hours, along with thousands of aftershocks, it feels like the big one is right around the corner – literally. In fact, the US Geological Society is predicting a greater than 99% chance of a moderate earthquake (magnitude 5.0) within the next week. While Californians are...
As posted at: Forbes
June 24, 2019
Insurance companies says state regulators aren’t letting them plan for climate change and the so-called “new normal” of intense wildfires. They warn of price spikes and more people being denied coverage. Regulators worry the industry’s models aren’t credible, and could be manipulated to overcharge consumers.
Last year, the California insurance industry began to get cranky.
Pacific Gas &...
As posted at: Voice of San Diego
June 20, 2019
All signs point to another busy fire year in California.
Already, a heat wave this month triggered hundreds of wildfires. They were mostly small burns, but they thrived off a healthy crop of brush nourished by the wet winter. As the state’s hills and valleys continue to dry out, that vegetation may pose bigger problems.
State and federal leaders are working to reduce the threat, but they...
As posted at: San Francisco Chronicle
June 15, 2019
Many new cars sold today can take preemptive action to help prevent crashes — hitting the brakes before a collision, steering around obstacles or alerting drivers to hazards in their blind spots.
Those safety features — collectively known as advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS — reduce the risk of crashes. It might seem logical to assume that as a result, they’d reduce the cost of car...
As posted at: WAMU 88.5
June 13, 2019
With the Atlantic hurricane season underway, homeowners should be aware that inadequate insurance coverage can make recovering from a bad situation even worse.
Whether damage from a storm comes from wind or water, homeowners whose coverage is insufficient have discovered the hard way that it makes recovery difficult and that their options for help are limited.
“Some people believe they don’t need...
As posted at: CNBC
June 11, 2019
As North Texans grapple with damage claims following a weekend storm, estimates say 60% of homes don't have enough coverage for full replacement.
DALLAS — If there is one good thing to come out of the Sunday storms, it’s that all that damage might make us look at our homeowner’s insurance.
Multiple surveys by Marshall & Swift/Boeckh over the years have found that as many as 60% of homes...
As posted at: WFAA
May 29, 2019
State insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is seeking help from the industry he regulates for survivors of the Wine Country wildfires who are still struggling to rebuild their homes.
After meeting in Santa Rosa on Tuesday night with city officials and block captains from neighborhoods ravaged by the Tubbs Fire, Lara announced he had requested that insurers continue paying living expenses for...
As posted at: San Francisco Chronicle
May 28, 2019
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 complex fires—shows that where you live deeply affects how much disaster recovery support you receive...
As posted at: Nonprofit Quarterly