In a March 2024 article from the Washington Post, climate reporter Shannon Osaka comments on a recent report from insurance company, Swiss Re, which shows that the U.S. follows only the Philippines world-wide in weather-related damages, even after numbers are adjusted according to national wealth. In the study, the Swiss company found that hurricanes, flooding, and storms result in losses amounting to nearly 0.4% of the U.S. GDP every year. This amount is double what China loses and quadruple that of Canada. As estimated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. lost a combined $93 billion from disasters in 2023 alone. Jesse Keenan, a professor of real estate and urban planning at Tulane University, believes this number will only continue to grow and become something that, “really starts to cut into our growth.” Because of the numerous wildfires that California has experienced in recent years, Osaka notes that multiple insurers have stopped offering home insurance in affected areas. Similarly, others no longer offer coverage in coastal areas due to rising sea levels and the ever increasing number and severity of damaging storms. As insurers pull out of at-risk areas, insurance rates soar, exacerbating the already high financial strain on many American households. Policygenius, an insurance analysis company, reports a staggering 21% increase in home insurance costs between May 2022 and May 2023, disproportionately affecting lower income households who may need to relinquish insurance altogether. Two factors contribute to the proliferation of mass-produced housing in areas vulnerable to wildfires, floods, or hurricanes: the lack of national preventive legislation for construction in disaster-prone areas and the need of many Americans to seek housing wherever options arise. Osaka underscores the urgent need for building codes revised in accordance with climate stressors and other practices geared towards reducing future losses. No country is immune to this rising crisis.