Residents in Maine are still cleaning up weeks after dramatic flooding damaged homes as well as the state’s picturesque coastline. This is just one of many catastrophic weather events that have hit the U.S. in the past year.
One effect from these severe weather events could be to your homeowner’s insurance rates, which have increased double digits around the country.
What You Need To Know
- A January storm caused historic flooding in Maine
- Iconic landmarks were damaged or swept away
- An increase in extreme weather is driving up home insurance rates across the country
Maine’s frigid winter temps may not draw many people to the state this time of year, but the views couldn’t be better. That’s what has kept Joanna Lukianoff in Bristol year-round.
“I love the ocean,” said Lukianoff.
“When it gets angry, it’s wonderful to watch it, but scary though when it gets too close.”
A powerful storm in the middle of the night this past January gave Lukianoff a whole new perspective on the striking views outside her son’s home.
“The wind was so strong and the rain was so strong,” she said.
She remembers the waves coming so high they nearly reached the house.
Seawater buckled the road out front. Down the street, a neighbor’s house was literally picked up from its foundation.
A few miles from Lukianoff’s home, the historic Pemaquid Point lighthouse and bell house also felt the effects of the storm. The iconic bell — more than a century old— that once guided boats through fog off the coast of Maine is now left bare.
“A rogue wave came up, went over top of me, and landed like 20 feet behind me. And now we see how the building got taken out,” said Bristol Parks and Recreation Director Shelley Gallagher.
Storm surges flooded roads in Maine, destroyed homes and shredded once pristine beaches.
What used to be a once in a lifetime weather event is now becoming more frequent.
Gallagher says the storm is a warning that weather events will intensify in the future.
“The reality is these storms are getting bad,” she said.
From flooding in Maine to fires out west, severe weather has reached a point that people have not seen before. The effects of these events go beyond the immediate storm damage — they could also raise home insurance prices.
“Insurance is the canary in the coal mine. Insurance is the place where people really begin to notice what climate change is all about,” said economic expert Charles Colgan.
As severe weather events increase around the country, so does the cost of home insurance. Prices went up 35% from May 2021 to May 2023 in the U.S. according to a report from Policygenius. States like Florida and Texas say the most significant increases.
While Maine may not be in an insurance crisis yet, the tide may be changing for homeowners here and in other states.
In California and Florida, some providers are pulling out all together, leading to more people taking part in state programs — increasing the cost for taxpayers.
“As we’ve seen, having a state with no insurance is a lot worse than a state with high-cost insurance,” said Colgan.
“I would think a lot of people won’t be able to afford it,” worried Lukianoff, “so they’ll have to go find somewhere else to live, which is very sad.”
Despite whatever mother nature brings, Lukianoff says she has no plans to leave. Looking out at the water on a calm day, she says it’s hard to believe the chaos it wrought.
“You would never think it would get itself all boiled up with the spray going every which way come Sunday.”