Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom. ••• Climate change is coming for Americans' homes and wallets. And in a pretty spectacular fashion: In Iowa, insurers lost $1.
3 billion in 2023 alone due to an unprecedented series of storms that devastated the state. The Midwest, normally considered a safe haven from homeowner nightmares such as hurricanes and wildfires, is now getting wracked by increasingly destructive weather, as warmer temperatures are heightening the severity and frequency of storms. In June alone, record floods overwhelmed communities in southern Minnesota, leading to major infrastructure and property damage and costing millions in repairs.
Hail is the most expensive weather event, even more than tornadoes. Damages from hail now total in the billions annually and are steadily increasing with warming temperatures. Unfortunately, this is a nationwide trend, and the insurance companies responsible for covering homes damaged by severe storms simply cannot keep up.
In six out of the past seven years, in Minnesota alone, home insurance companies have lost money, and the losses are rapidly increasing. This is positioning Minnesota insurance companies to drop high-risk homeowners from insurance plans en masse, something already happening in high-risk states such as Iowa, Florida and California. The remaining insurance companies subject desperate homeowners to explo.
