Alabama Resilience Revolution: The U.S. has faced a record-breaking 23 major disasters in 2023, including hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, tornados, and hail. These events have resulted in over 250 casualties, causing over $57 billion in property damage. Low-income homeowners and renters bear a disproportionate burden.
As homeowners strive to recover, a new crisis emerges: vanishing insurance coverage, potentially bankrupting families and communities. Major insurers, facing losses from disaster-related claims, are halting new policies in states like California, Colorado, Florida, and Louisiana. Premium increases, higher deductibles, and reduced coverage are becoming widespread.
The insurance crisis can only be addressed by tackling the underlying risk crisis. Most U.S. homes were not built to withstand the increasing extreme weather. Investment in climate resilience is essential. Alabama’s Strengthen Alabama Homes (SAH) program, launched over a decade ago, offers grants to install Fortified Roofs based on IBHS research, proven to prevent or reduce losses from various severe storms. SAH has resulted in over 54,000 Fortified roofs, enhancing resilience.
SAH’s success led to increased awareness, especially after Hurricane Sally in 2019, where Fortified homes showed minimal roof damage compared to non-Fortified homes. Alabama’s stable home insurance market reflects the program’s impact.
Similar efforts are emerging in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Lockport, Louisiana, has a development of 35 Fortified homes, 90% complete during Hurricane Ida, showcasing their resilience.
Mitigation, like SAH, demonstrates the potential for cost-effective resilience. Established standards for different disasters are evolving, emphasizing the need for stronger building codes and retrofitting existing homes. Collaboration between public and private sectors, state insurance regulators, legislatures, insurance providers, builders, contractors, homeowners, and philanthropy is crucial.
Investing in resilience now is more effective than spending billions on annual disaster recovery. Strengthening homes, families, and communities must be prioritized and acted upon urgently.
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Our Reader’s Queries
What natural disaster does Alabama have?
Alabama has experienced its fair share of natural calamities. These include floods, the most prevalent natural disaster in the US, and tornadoes, which are frequent occurrences in the state.
How is the climate change in Alabama?
Over the next few decades, Alabama is expected to see an increase in temperature, leading to more frequent and intense floods and droughts. Despite the overall trend in the United States, Alabama has not experienced a rise in temperature over the past half-century.