A woman whose parents lost fire insurance coverage just before the eruption of the Los Angeles wildfires ignored evacuation orders to try to save their home.
What's happening?
Lynne Levin-Guzman spent the night of Jan. 14 fighting off the Eaton Fire with her brother, ABC7 reported. Part of the harrowing story was shared on Instagram via Mo News.
"I have a hose," she said.
The house across the street was "fully engulfed in flames," according to ABC7. Most of the neighborhood was OK at the time of the broadcast, though four homes were destroyed.
"That's your entire life," Levin-Guzman said of the home across the street. "You don't get that back. The memories are gone. I hope they're alive."
The 62-year-old nurse had lifetime ties to her parents' home in the Upper Hastings Ranch area of Pasadena. The 90-year-olds had evacuated to Sierra Madre, where Levin-Guzman lived, but then another evacuation order came down.
"I snuck here. There's a will, there's a way," she told ABC7. "Probably shouldn't do it, but, you know what, under the circumstances — send me to jail. That's fine."
Why is this important?
Increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events are contributing to the destruction of homes across the United States. This is preventing insurance companies from making money, so they are not renewing coverage in risk-prone areas and raising rates. They are also pulling out of certain places, including entire states.
Homeowners are left to pick up the pieces. Finding a new policy often means paying much more or turning to state-run plans of last resort, which are also more expensive and overburdened.
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In 2023, State Farm stopped writing contracts in the Golden State. It expects to cover 1.1 million fewer homes in 2028 than it did at the end of 2023. It may just be a matter of time before areas that lost coverage experience wildfires.
What's being done about the lack of insurance coverage?
The state is trying to adjust.
"In December, California passed a new regulation requiring insurers to offer coverage in wildfire-prone areas to prevent mass policy cancellations," Mo News stated. "However, implementation has been slow and many communities have yet to feel the impact. Companies are required to increase coverage in high-risk wildfire areas by 5% every two years, or until policies in risk-prone areas reach at least 85% of their market share in the state."
But a comprehensive solution feels a long way off, especially amid the deadly and devastating LA wildfires. (Here's how you can help.)
"Fix Insurance in America!" one Instagram commenter demanded. "This is so unethical and inexcusable."
Someone else said: "It has nothing to do with California. It has everything to do with the greedy insurance companies. They cancel people's hurricane insurance in Florida. They cancel people's fire insurance in Colorado. They cancel people's flood insurance in Louisiana."
"We are not a people-first society, full stop," another user added.
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