Wildfires — Five Western States Most at Risk in the U.S.

Guidewire does data and risk scores for insurers. It recently gave grades to states for wildfire risk. No surprise, the PIA Western Alliance states of California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona and the state of Colorado are the five most at risk states in the country.

All five of them received an F by Guidewire.

Even though Texas averages more wildfires per year, California has more at risk properties. Texas has averaged 217.3 wildfires per year in the last 10. California’s average is 203. However, most of the fires in Texas are spread out through rural areas.

California’s fires tend to be in more populated areas.

Here are the number of homes at risk in the five states getting the F grade:

• California — 1.03 million homes
• Oregon — 100k homes
• Colorado — 64.5k homes
• Washington — 61.8k homes
• Arizona — 61.7k homes

Guidewire’s HazardHub data and risk scores report looks at data for geography, historical wildfire data, vegetation data, where fire hydrants and fire stations are located and other environmental factors. Also included in the grades are temperatures high and low, humidity and wind factors.

For California and Texas and the other Western states, rugged terrain and forests, shrublands and grasslands are considered.

Guidewire also notes that 10% of the homes rated as F for wildfire risk will see 98% of the damage caused by wildfires. Homes in F-rated areas are 40-times more likely to see damages compared to homes in other parts of a state.

The company also notes that preparing a home for the worst often lowers the amount of damage seen by 20% to 70%. How much depends on the effort made to prepare for fire.

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/3XxEbe3