Insurance
Home›Insurance›Property Insurance›Compound weather disasters strain states as FEMA resou…
Compound weather disasters strain states as FEMA resources shrink
Experts warn that climate-driven compound events are increasing, while FEMA cuts leave states and localities more exposed as they juggle overlapping crises and risks to public health.
Insurance Journal reports that a mix of overlapping disasters across the United States, including Canadian wildfire smoke affecting parts of the Midwest and Northeast, extreme heat along the East Coast, and catastrophic flooding in Texas, is disrupting daily life and raising health risks. The outlet notes that experts describe these overlapping crises as compound events, and say climate change is making them more likely. Jeffrey Schlegelmilch of Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness said the country is not as well prepared as it was a few years ago, attributing worsening readiness in part to recent cuts to disaster work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Samantha Penta of the University at Albany said the scale back of federal resources increases pressure on state and local governments to manage complex events on their own. John Abatzoglou, a climatologist at the University of California at Merced, said scientists expect more compound calamities as wildfires become more likely during frequent heat waves, and as a climate-charged El Niño pattern could bring more extreme rain, flooding, and landslides.
Insurance Journal also highlights operational challenges when multiple disasters strike the same area at once. When local officials respond to different threats using a limited pool of staff and resources, those actions can conflict, the outlet says, such as guidance to use splash pads during heat that may be less appropriate when smoke has made air quality hazardous, with hazardous smoke during heat waves also potentially slowing emergency response.