The home insurance market is crumbling in New Orleans, leaving Alfredo Herrera with few options for coverage — and skyrocketing insurance premiums.

Herrera, 35, works in finance for a local bank. He bought his 900-square-foot home in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood in 2020 for $270,000, and lives there with his partner.

In 2022, he paid $1,600 a year for home insurance. But last July, his insurer canceled his coverage, saying it was leaving Louisiana.

In the past, acquiring or keeping homeowners’ insurance didn’t present much of a problem.

But as climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather, insurers — especially those in areas most impacted by floods and fires — are raising their premiums, or pulling out altogether, impacting the affordability and availability of home and fire insurance.

  • RubberDuck
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    8 months ago

    Laughs in Dutch Deltaworks.

    The government would easily be able to fix this, by properly protecting the city from the ocean by building adequate protection measures. But it failed to do so… and this is the result. The constituents voted for short term cost savings over long term viability of some of their large population centers.

    Unfortunately we don’t currently have a Dutch government that believes in climate change, luckily our water defense is managed by an even older branch of government that does still know it’s core function.

    • @No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston
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      148 months ago

      Bold of you to assume that the coral basin of Florida an Louisiana would not let water bubble up from the soil as it rises.

      • RubberDuck
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        68 months ago

        Why? It’s not as if this problem is unique. Other environments, other challenges. It’s not as if that is not a solvable issue.

      • RubberDuck
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        28 months ago

        Cool! I just went online and bought a copy. Had not heard of it, but it seems fun.

      • paraphrand
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        28 months ago

        Wow, their brand really is “visions of the future” now isn’t it?