Texas Faces Higher Wildfire Risks

Climate change is causing more destructive wildfires, prompting home insurers to reconsider coverage in the state.

1 minute read

March 6, 2024, 8:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Two-lane asphalt road with smoke filling the sky in Texas Panhandle.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire fills the air with smoke in North Texas. | Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons / Smokehouse Creek Fire

More destructive wildfires bolstered by climate change are causing Texas insurers to take note, write Delger Erdenesanaa and Christopher Flavelle in the New York Times. “In most of Texas, wildfires happen in the summer. But across the Southern Plains, including the Texas Panhandle, fire risk is highest around March when temperatures warm, strong winds blow over the flat landscape and dry grass left from the previous growing season can easily catch fire.”

The Smokehouse Creek fire raging in the Panhandle region is now the largest in the state’s history, fueled by high temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds. “Temperatures in Texas have risen by 0.61 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1975, according to a 2021 report by the state climatologist’s office,” while relative humidity has decreased.

“Texas homeowners saw their insurance rates increase 53.6 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.” Some insurers have started leaving the state altogether, mirroring a similar situation in California

Thursday, February 29, 2024 in The New York Times

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