If there is a silver lining in the terrible tragedy happening in LA, it is encouraging from a societal standpoint that the complicated relationship between weather, human behavior, climate change, finance/insurance and political policies is starting to get some visibility. While there are any number of conspiracy theories and attempts to blame political opponents, the fact is that the fundamental relationships between these different variables is very difficult to manage, and the status quo – unfortunately – was betting against the kind of situation that has now occurred, and it will all have to be paid for. Rather than simply bashing the insurance industry, it is good to see several commentators explaining the need for stable, sustainable, insurance solutions that work for all parties.

Yesterday's Washington Post article is a good example, with the interconnection between all of these factors being explained to the general public. It’s unclear how all of this will be sorted out as the LA area rebuilds, but I would expect that things that have been unaddressed – the challenges of creating effective state legislation, ensuring adequate reserves and availability of construction materials, etc. – will now be front and center. Hard to say what the end result will be, in terms of impact on residents of California, but it seems pretty certain that things cannot go back to the way they were. Scary on many levels, but hopefully some positives can come of it.

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Photo by Benjamin Lizardo on Unsplash