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Wildfire Impact to Cost Billions in Housing Damages

shutterstock_273608135As California’s raging wildfires continue to move, CoreLogic released a hazard risk analysis discovering the total number of homes at risk for damages, along with the combined reconstruction cost values, which could result in an estimated $65 billion.

The analysis was calculated analyzing homes in the three Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) where the five fires are active, including wildfires Patrick, Atlas, and Tubbs in Napa, and Nuns and Pocket in Santa Rosa.

The risk level is based on the level of susceptibility to wildfire damage. CoreLogic’s analysis also includes “risk associated due to the property’s location and close proximity to other high-risk properties or areas.”

A total of 172,117 homes are at some level of risk from the wildfires in the Napa and Santa Rosa metropolitan areas, the data found. In addition, a total of “9.1 million homes with a combined reconstruction cost value (RCV) of $3.1 trillion is at some level of risk from wildfires in California.”

Of the total homes at risk, 11,058— representing 6 percent—have an estimated RCV of more than $5 billion, and are at significant risk of damage falling in the high and extreme risk categories, according to the data.

Meanwhile, 94 percent of homes are at low or moderate risk of damage. The report reveals to remain cautious—although the majority of homes are at the lower and moderate risk levels, these wildfires can “easily expand to nearby properties and cause significant damage even if a property is not considered high risk in its own right.”

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Source: CoreLogic Wildfire Risk Score analysis

The report notes that this analysis represents the total and maximum risk from the disasters.

About Author: Nicole Casperson

Nicole Casperson is the Associate Editor of DS News and MReport. She graduated from Texas Tech University where she received her M.A. in Mass Communications and her B.A. in Journalism. Casperson previously worked as a graduate teaching instructor at Texas Tech's College of Media and Communications. Her thesis will be published by the International Communication Association this fall. To contact Casperson, e-mail: [email protected].
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