Weekly Roundup: Flooding, Wildfires, Lightning All Add Up to More Destruction and Increased Costs For Homeowners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2026
Contact: contact@insurancefairnessproject.com
Weekly Roundup: Flooding, Wildfires, Lightning All Add Up to More Destruction and Increased Costs For Homeowners
Each week, the Insurance Fairness Project highlights the latest developments in the national climate-driven property insurance crisis. For more insurance updates, follow us on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Bluesky.
1/ ONE YEAR AFTER THE TEXAS FLOODS, RECOVERY STALLS: This week marks one year since the devastating July 4 floods that tore through the Texas Hill Country, killing dozens, destroying homes, and reshaping communities along the Guadalupe River. As rebuilding continues, many survivors are still navigating the financial aftermath.
Texas Tribune: One year after the July 4 flood, Kerr County shows signs of trauma and healing
“We are not recovered,” said Austin Dickson, chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country. “We are in recovery, and there is much more work to be done.”
To mark the one-year anniversary of the floods, Extreme Weather Survivors (EWS) held a press call to release new survey data collected from Texas survivors.
Key survey results:
54% of Texas flood survivors felt they had been abandoned by the government during and after the event.
48% said they had to delay or forgo basic necessities due to recovery costs.
Only 2% said insurance fully covered their losses.
Last week, several Hill Country flood survivors were among a group brought to Washington, DC, by the Extreme Weather Survivors to meet with elected officials and call attention to the needs of people following disasters.
Public News Service: Survivors of TX extreme weather events seek support from lawmakers
In a report last fall, the Insurance Fairness Project documented how gaps in insurance coverage compounded the disaster's impacts — a textbook case of how increasingly frequent and severe climate-driven flooding is finding families financially vulnerable when disaster strikes.
2/ LOW-INCOME FAMILIES ARE BEARING THE BRUNT OF REPEATED FLOODING: New reporting highlights how flooding is disproportionately harming low-income households, many of whom cannot afford flood insurance, lack savings to rebuild, and have few options to relocate after disasters. Researchers estimate that roughly 90% of uninsured households in flood-prone communities are low-income, leaving many trapped in a cycle of repeated flooding and financial hardship.
KBTX 3: ‘They’re stuck’: Low-income families face repeated flooding with no way out
“They’re stuck,” Garcia said. “They do not have the resources to be able to relocate somewhere else. So they just decide to take that burden on their own.”
3/ SEVERE WEATHER MEANS HIGHER PREMIUMS IN ILLINOIS: New reporting finds Illinois homeowners are paying more for insurance as severe storms become more frequent and destructive. Homeowners in the state now pay an average of $2,731 annually for coverage, about 14% above the national average, with premiums rising 68% since 2020 as insurers increasingly factor climate risks into their pricing.
CBS News Chicago:Illinois home insurance premiums are on the rise right along with severe weather
"We are seeing it across the country, and especially in Illinois, where you are seeing more powerful storms," Bhatt said. "Storms are intensifying, and the amount of destruction they're causing is becoming more costly."
Illinois lawmakers recently approved HB 4273 and SB 714, giving the Illinois Department of Insurance greater authority to review excessive rate increases and requiring more transparency around premium hikes. They also passed SB 4006, creating the Strengthen Illinois Homes Program to require premium discounts for homeowners who make home-hardening investments and expand climate risk disclosures.
4/ LIGHTNING IS BECOMING ANOTHER COSTLY DRIVER OF HOME INSURANCE… AND INSURERS ARE SHIFTING MORE ROOF REPLACEMENT COSTS TO HOMEOWNERS: New data shows that lightning-related homeowners insurance losses jumped 59% in 2025, reaching an estimated $1.65 billion nationwide.
Meanwhile, insurers are increasingly shifting roof replacement costs onto homeowners – leaving families responsible for thousands of dollars in unexpected out-of-pocket costs following hailstorms, hurricanes, and other severe weather events.
However, a growing number of states are pursuing policies that reward homeowners for reducing risk and force insurers to pass on savings, following in the footsteps of Colorado, which recently expanded its home hardening efforts through SB 26-155, creating grants to help homeowners install hail-resistant roofs. The law builds on HB 1182, which requires insurers to account for mitigation efforts when setting rates and underwriting policies. Minnesota lawmakers are also looking to fund a statewide home hardening program they passed in 2023 but never funded.
5/ WILDFIRES INTENSIFY ACROSS THE WEST AS EXTREME HEAT FUELS A DANGEROUS FIRE SEASON: Extreme heat, drought, and strong winds are kicking up wildfire activity across the West, threatening communities in multiple states and raising concerns about another dangerous fire season. In Utah, the Cottonwood Fire has already burned tens of thousands of acres, destroying homes and putting communities at risk, and forecasters warn that hot, dry conditions are creating ideal conditions for additional fires.
KSL: This Utah town is watching its mountain and way of life burn
"To see it burn this dramatically — to watch it unfold right there on the mountain range, just on full display for everybody to see, was difficult. It has been difficult," Robinson said.
New York Times: A Hot and Deadly Start to Wildfire Season
“The conditions we’re seeing right now, we usually don’t see until mid-July to August,” Karl Hunt, a spokesman for the Utah department that oversees forestry and wildfires, told The Times.
6/ CONSUMER ADVOCATES CHALLENGE PLAN TO SHIFT WILDFIRE COSTS ONTO CALIFORNIA POLICYHOLDERS: A California judge is expected to reject a lawsuit from Consumer Watchdog challenging a new state policy that allows insurers to recoup billions in wildfire-related costs through statewide surcharges on policyholders. Consumer Watchdog says the policy unfairly forces homeowners and renters to shoulder financial obligations that should remain the responsibility of insurance companies.
Bloomberg Law: Challenge to California Fire Insurance Fees Rejected by Judge
Courthouse News:Judge poised to reject challenge to insurer bid to recoup wildfire losses
“The department’s scheme charges ordinary homeowners and renters for a financial obligation imposed by statute on insurers, with no corresponding benefit to those consumers for the surcharge,” Consumer Watchdog says in its complaint. “It effectively makes California consumers reinsurers of the companies they are insured by.”
As wildfire losses continue to mount, shifting more costs onto policyholders without addressing the underlying drivers of climate risk could further increase premiums and deepen affordability challenges for homeowners.
7/ FLORIDA INSURANCE EXECUTIVES SAY “TORT REFORMS” ARE WORKING, BUT HOMEOWNERS AREN’T SEEING IT: Insurance industry leaders continue to argue that Florida's lawsuit restrictions and other recent reforms are stabilizing the state's insurance market — but these changes have not delivered meaningful affordability relief for homeowners, who continue to face some of the highest insurance premiums in the nation.
Florida's changes have weakened important protections for policyholders by making it harder to challenge denied or underpaid claims, without addressing the underlying drivers of rising insurance costs, including worsening climate disasters and escalating rebuilding expenses.
Meanwhile, Florida homeowners now pay roughly $3,400 more for insurance than the national average, eroding many of the financial advantages that have historically drawn retirees and new residents to the state and fundamentally changing the economics of homeownership there — and increasingly across the country.
As other states consider similar lawsuit restrictions, Florida shows that limiting consumers' legal rights will not magically make insurance more affordable.
8/ SHAREACTION EVALUATED 40 OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST INSURANCE COMPANIES AND RANKED ON HOW WELL THEIR POLICIES AND DISCLOSURES ADDRESS KEY SOCIETAL RISKS: Their findings suggest that the insurance industry continues to fuel climate change by underwriting and investing in activities that drive climate change and biodiversity loss.
Share Action: Insuring Disaster 2026 - ShareAction’s assessment of 40 of the world’s largest insurers
Louise Marfany, Director of Investor Sector Standards and Policy at ShareAction:
“Insurance exists to help people recover from disasters, yet this report shows many insurers are just adding fuel to the fire. Insurers shape the world we live in through the companies they underwrite and invest in. By enabling fossil fuel expansion, they are worsening the effects of climate change, leaving people and planet exposed to more frequent wildfires, hurricanes and floods.”
Resources
Insurance Fairness Project: Polling – Voters Want Their Government to Address the Property Insurance Crisis
Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project: Mapping the Home Insurance Crisis
Consumer Federation of America: Overburdened: The Dramatic Increase in Homeowners Insurance Premiums and its Impacts on American Homeowners
Brookings Institution:Homeowners insurance in an era of climate change
Consumer Federation of America and Climate and Community Institute: Penalized: The Hidden Cost of Credit Score in Homeowners Insurance Premiums
Americans for Financial Reform and Public Citizen: Rising Property Insurance Premiums: The Uneven Risks to Household and Systemic Financial Stability
Climate and Community Institute (CCI): Insurers of Last Resort: Why Today’s FAIR Plans Need a Redesign to Address the Home Insurance Crisis
Center for Climate Integrity: How Big Oil is Fueling the Insurance Crisis And Why State Policymakers Should Act
Dave Jones, Yale Law Journal: The Uninsurable Future: The Climate Threat to Property Insurance, and How to Stop It
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The Insurance Fairness Project is an information hub dedicated to offering insights into the home insurance crisis, exploring its drivers and highlighting solutions alongside issue experts and community advocates.
