00:00 from flash floods to tornadoes,
00:02 volunteer groups and organizations
00:03 that have been busy over the past
00:06 week ever since the tornadoes that
00:08 we dealt with last Friday in Mississippi.
00:11 The first half of 2023 has been
00:14 filled with extreme weather.
00:16 You've got inflationary pressures.
00:17 You've got climate risk pressures.
00:19 You've got more and more people
00:22 also living in harm's way.
00:24 The frequency of billion dollar
00:25 disasters and the cost of damage
00:28 has skyrocketed in recent years.
00:30 Sean Kevlin says the insurance
00:32 industry has been forced to evolve.
00:34 Since the 80s, we've seen insurance
00:36 losses increase over 700%.
00:38 Insurance had traditionally been one
00:39 where it would detect and then repair
00:42 after catastrophe and what we say
00:44 is happening right now is it's moving
00:47 towards predicting and preventing
00:48 the CEO of the Insurance Information
00:51 Institute says some insurers are
00:53 pulling out of certain states in
00:55 California. It's not just because
00:57 of the growing wildfire risk,
00:59 but strict laws, rules and policies.
01:01 In Florida, Kevlin says the hurricane
01:03 threat is not the only challenge.
01:05 Insurers are dealing with years
01:07 of fraud and litigation abuse.
01:09 We've got to create better
01:10 physical infrastructure so that
01:12 we can be more resilient in the
01:15 future. Families and businesses
01:16 need to be prepared and review
01:18 their policies as we enter the heart
01:21 of wildfire and hurricane seasons.
01:23 We're seeing hurricanes now where
01:25 they're staying inland more and
01:27 creating significant flooding in
01:29 areas of this country that have
01:31 literally less than 1% take up
01:33 rate on flood insurance.
01:35 Not enough people have flood
01:37 insurance when they need it.
01:39 For Accuweather, I'm the Waddell.
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