California State: Second Most Vulnerable to Natural Disasters

Natural disasters cover a wide range of natural phenomena including hurricanes/tornados, earthquakes, floods, fires and so on. California, called the ‘Golden State’, is truly a great place to live. Ask Californians if they would like to live in another part of the country; surely a majority of them will say ’No’.

However, California has its fair share of calamitous occurrences and the Californians take them in their stride. According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), California is the number two state most prone to natural disasters. A few of the worst disasters of the last 100 odd years that devastated California are listed below. 

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• 1906 The San Francisco Earthquake: More than three-fourths of the city were severely damaged or destroyed, and over half the population was left homeless.

• 1923 The Berkeley Fires: The fires gutted multiple city blocks and almost 700 buildings.

• 1964 The Christmas Flood: 19 people died, and damage of a scale of over a $100 million occurred in Humboldt County.

• 1982 The Alpine Meadows, Tahoe North shore Avalanche: This is the deadliest avalanche ever recorded in North America.

• 1989 The Loma Prieta Earthquake: The images of the havoc caused remain seared in the minds of San Franciscans even today. 63 people were killed and 3757 injured.

• 1991 The Oakland Hills Fire: Over 800 buildings were destroyed and 25 people died.

• 2015 The Valley of Fire: Over 1,300 homes and almost 80,000 acres of land were burnt in Napa, Sonoma and Lake County.

• 2015 onwards Savage wildfires: They are now a regular part of summer.

• Many more have made headlines.

Survival and recovery

Surviving a natural disaster is a matter of preparedness and luck. There will of course be state and federal aid forthcoming to help survivors face the immediate aftermath. However, these are not meant or sufficient for recovery and rebuilding lives. The victims often find that their homes and sources of livelihood are demolished. The only protection, if they have one, is the insurance coverage.

It is insurance that is likely to help rebuild homes, restart businesses and keep families protected and fed. Unfortunately, many Californians are either uninsured or underinsured. This is due to a feeling that disasters always happen to ’other people’, not ‘us’. Many of those who were unable to recover from the disasters listed above too thought so.

Insurance: The Best Protection

Do not remain unprepared for calamities, taking your insurance for granted. You may feel you are well protected, but in reality, you could be underinsured or there may be gaps or catches in the coverage that you are not aware of.

It is best to contact an experienced and reputed insurance broker  at the earliest. They will  examine carefully whether you are sufficiently protected from natural disasters, and whether you need any additional coverage.

Hopefully, you will never ever need to file a claim. Nonetheless, a carefully planned insurance that covers all possible eventualities would surely give you immense peace of mind that you CAN rebuild your life come what may!