CoreLogic 2024 Wildfire Risk Report Finds More Than 2.6 Million Homes at Moderate to High-Risk of Wildfire Damage

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 13, 2024--

Natural disasters are becoming more intense as a result of changing weather patterns and wildfires are no exception. The 2024 CoreLogic Wildfire Risk Report found more than 2.6 million homes across 14 states are at moderate to very high risk of wildfire damage during the 2024 wildfire season, with a total reconstruction cost of $1.3 trillion. With those figures as a backdrop, the report also highlights the importance of mitigation techniques, both on an individual property and community wide basis—which have benefits for both homeowners and insurers.

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The western United States has the greatest wildfire risk with three states comprising 70% of the risk. The following states having the highest number of homes at moderate or greater risk of wildfire exposure:

These states face an elevated level of risk because of the high number of homes in undeveloped areas, or with exposure to Wildland-Urban Interface, where homes are near wildlife such as trees, vegetation and other flammable materials. The Los Angeles metropolitan area leads the nation with the highest number of homes at risk, with more than 245,000 homes with moderate or greater risk of wildfire, representing a total reconstruction value of $186.6 billion although not all homes that experience a loss in a wildfire scenario will be a total loss.

“In recent years, we’ve seen wildfires occur in unexpected places, reinforcing the need to understand the risk landscape and take mitigation action. Both insurers and consumers have a role to play to ensure adequate protection,” said Jon Schneyer, CoreLogic’s director of catastrophe response. “These numbers may seem overwhelming, but research shows that mitigation efforts make a real difference in potential losses from wildfires. The good news is there are actions people can take to lessen the risk.”

Effective mitigation strategies

There have been multiple devastating wildfires in recent years that have highlighted the need for individuals and communities to take mitigation action. For example, the Camp Fire of 2018 decimated more than 90% of the town of Paradise, California. A recent collaborative study with the Town of Paradise, Milliman, Inc, and CoreLogic 1 found combining individual home- and community-level mitigation strategies led to a 75% reduction in expected loss per property in high-risk areas like Paradise, which can also lead to lower insurance premiums.

Effective mitigation is a combined effort between communities and individuals. Some mitigation tactics for individuals include:

Community-level mitigation efforts include:

Additional mitigation tactics can be found through Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) Wildfire Prepared Home Program™ at wildfireprepared.org.

To learn more about wildfire risk and prevention, read the full 2024 Wildfire Risk Report.

About CoreLogic

CoreLogic is a leading provider of property insights and innovative solutions, working to transform the property industry by putting people first. Using its network, scale, connectivity and technology, CoreLogic delivers faster, smarter, more human-centered experiences, that build better relationships, strengthen businesses, and ultimately create a more resilient society. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.

©2024 CoreLogic, Inc. All rights reserved. While all of the content, data, and information is believed to be accurate, CoreLogic makes no guarantee, representation, or warranty, express or implied, including but not limited to as to the completeness, accuracy, applicability, or fitness, in connection with the content, data, or information or the products referenced herein and assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the content, data, information, or products referenced herein or any reliance thereon. CoreLogic ® is the trademark of CoreLogic, Inc. or its affiliates or subsidiaries.

1https://www.milliman.com/-/media/milliman/pdfs/2023-articles/5-2-23_report-town-of-paradise-20230406.ashx?la=en&hash=A602289482CACACBCAD518C153B12A22

CoreLogic's map of residential properties with a moderate or greater wildfire risk score throughout the western United States. (Graphic: Business Wire)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A global human rights watchdog on Wednesday called on Latin American governments to improve protection schemes, grant legal status and reverse “onerous visa requirements” for millions of Haitians and Venezuelans who have struggled to find work, access to health care and education in South American host countries, forcing them to increasingly seek asylum in the United States.

Human Rights Watch, in a report describing the situation of Haitian and Venezuelan migrants, said that “limited” integration and regularization policies in South America are forcing vulnerable people to head to the United States every month. To reach the U.S. border, many asylum seekers make a long, dangerous journey that includes crossing the Darien Gap, a roadless swath of jungle between Colombia and Panama.

“What we have documented through the course of our research over the last couple of years is how the lack of safe and legal pathways has pushed migrants and asylum seekers to cross the dangerous Darien Gap," said Tirana Hassan, executive director of HRW, during a presentation of the report in Bogota.

The group urged governments in Latin America to implement a “region-wide protection regime that would grant all Venezuelans and Haitians legal status for a fixed but renewable term of adequate duration," even if they may not qualify for refugee status under domestic law.

The report also calls for governments to eliminate barriers that hinder the integration of migrants and refugees, including legislation that prevents people from getting work permits, while they seek asylum in other countries.

“While some Latin American governments have made commendable efforts to receive migrants and asylum seekers, efforts to regularize migration in the region have often fallen short due to restrictive timelines, complex procedures, onerous document requirements, and administrative delays,” said the report, which reviewed asylum policies in countries including Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Chile. “Asylum systems also struggle with limited capacity, resulting in significant delays,” the group said.

According to Panama officials, more than 700,000 migrants have crossed the Darien Gap over the past 18 months on their way to the United States. So far this year, some 238,000 people have crossed.

Around 65% of those crossing the swampy and treacherous jungle are Venezuelans escaping their nation’s political and economic crisis.

Hassan said that on a recent visit to Necoclí — a coastal town in Colombia from where migrants depart for Darien — the group identified people who left Venezuela after the disputed July 28 presidential election.

“We met families facing impossible choices. They would either have to endure the repression and fear of arrest in Venezuela or risk violence, exploitation and sexual assault and possibly even death," she said.

So far this year, 11,000 Haitians have made the jungle crossing on their way to the U.S. border, according to figures published by Panama's national immigration agency. While a new interim government was established in Haiti earlier this year, gangs continue to control 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince and millions face “acute food insecurity," according to the U.N. food agency.

Human Rights Watch said Haitians living in South America struggle to get residence permits or access to formal jobs, making it increasingly difficult to support their families back home and prompting them to head for the United States instead.

Venezuelans also appear to be struggling to integrate into South American countries, whose economies have slowed down after the pandemic.

Research conducted by the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, suggests that most Venezuelans seeking asylum in the United States have already tried to settle down in countries like Peru, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. According to a July report by the refugee agency, 66% of Venezuelans who had crossed the Darien Jungle that month, said they had lived in South American countries.

Astrid Suárez in Bogotá, Colombia, contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

FILE - Migrants cross a river during their journey through the Darien Gap from Colombia into Panama, Oct. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)