California Beaches Could Disappear

For many years, the effects of storms on homes and rising residential insurance have focused on Florida. However, massive storms off the Pacific are eating away at California beaches, the location of some of America’s most expensive real estate.

Homes Prices –Disasters Lower Them

According to the US Geographical Survey, two-thirds of California’s beaches could be gone by 2100. This will happen “if sea level rises 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) and human intervention is limited.” However, sea levels may be rising faster than that. Even if sea-level information is correct, storms have periodically driven higher water levels. Many studies do not take this into account. It only takes a violent storm to destroy a beach and nearby homes.

Forecast Accuracy

KPBS reports that insurers plan to raise residential real estate prices by 20%. Granted, some of this is due to wildfires, and only some because of storms. For many homeowners, the situation is even worse. “The California Department of Insurance said 7 out of the12 largest insurance companies have either paused or restricted new policies. Some companies have stopped doing business in the state altogether.”

Insurance companies, like weather forecasters, base their decisions on forecast metrics. They may be seeing something that expert forecasts don’t.