The apocalyptic images from Los Angeles this past week of the destruction caused by the still-raging fires are unfathomable. They are mindful of the horrific black-and-photos of Hiroshima in the aftermath of the atomic bomb in WWII.
Entire communities have been burnt to the ground, with only the charred foundations and concrete slabs of homes, businesses, municipal buildings, and places of worship serving as a reminder that this was a place where tens of thousands of people once called home.
The Los Angeles fires will affect all of us. With losses estimated at a minimum of $60 billion, insurance premiums nationwide for homes and automobiles are certain to increase for everybody, just as they have in the aftermath of the hurricanes in Florida in recent years.
In addition, with tens of thousands of families and businesses losing everything in a state that represents 1/7th of the U.S. economy — and with no hope of being able to return and rebuild — there will be ripple effects across the economic spectrum that will impact all of us.
In the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton this fall, we noted that Florida is close to becoming uninhabitable. Insurance companies have pulled out of that state, which means that most folks are unable to buy — or sell — a home, except at great expense. Moreover, living in the path of ever more-destructive hurricanes is akin to playing Russian roulette — it’s only a matter of time before the chamber spins and you’re out of luck.
The same now is true of California because of the threat of wildfires.
But the reality of climate change is this: There is no place on earth where we are safe from the destruction of Mother Nature’s climate-change-induced wrath — and the situation is only going to get worse.
Way worse.