A crisis of underinsurance threatens to scar rural Australia permanently

Australia is in the midst of a bushfire crisis that will affect local communities for years, if not permanently, due to a national crisis of underinsurance.

The consequences of underinsurance aren’t just personal.
 They potentially harm local communities permanently,
 as those unable to rebuild move away.

Already more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed – with months still to go in the bushfire season. Compare this to 2009, when Victoria’s “Black Saturday” fires claimed more than 2,000 homes in February, or 1983, when the “Ash Wednesday” fires destroyed about 2,400 homes in Victoria and South Australia, also in February. 

The 2020 fire season could end up surpassing these tragedies, despite the lessons learned and improvements in preparedness.

One lesson not really learned, though, is that home insurance is rarely sufficient to enable recovery. The evidence is many people losing their homes will find themselves unable to rebuild, due to lack of insurance. 

Read the story from The Conversation - “A crisis of underinsurance threatens to scar rural Australia permanently."

How Queensland is being soaked by an 'unprecedented monsoonal burst

The north Queensland coast is in the midst of an extreme rainfall event that has forced the Ross River Dam near Townsville to open its gates, adding to the flooding already underway.

Floods are threatening hundreds of homes in the Townsville area.

Here's how it has happened – and why.

It's not over yet but, as of 9am local time on Monday, Townsville Airport had recorded more than one metre of rain in the past week.

All up, that tally reached 1052 millimetres, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The total beat the previous weekly high from January 1998 of 886 millimetres although that event included the "night of Noah' when a record daily tally of 548.8 millimetres fell.

Read the story from The Sydney Morning Herald by Peter Hannam and Nigel Gladstone - “How Queensland is being soaked by an 'unprecedented monsoonal burst’.”

Donald Trump Hasn’t Faced a Single Climate Change Question Since Hurricanes Hit

On Friday, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, declared that it was not appropriate to discuss the issue of climate change in the midst of a major set of hurricanes hitting the United States.

Hurricane discussions at the Whitehouse,
but no talk of climate change

Environmentalist and some lawmakers scoffed at the logic, equating it to a government official declaring counter-terrorism strategy taboo in the aftermath of a terrorism attack.

But though he has no actual control over what gets discussed, Pruitt’s position seems to be winning out. Few pundits are talking about climate change, and fewer reporters are asking about it, even as parts of Texas remain underwater from Hurricane Harvey and Florida braces for potential devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma.

Since August 23, there have been a dozen opportunities for reporters to question either President Donald Trump, top aides, or top White House spokespeople during on-the-record sessions. 

According to transcripts of those briefings, press conferences, and gaggles, not a single question about climate change or global warming has been asked in those sessions.

Read the Daily Beast story by Sam Stein - “Donald Trump Hasn’t Faced a Single Climate Change Question Since Hurricanes Hit.”