AFP - Americans covet beach homes, but insurers fret over hurricane risk

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Many Americans dream of owning a beachfront home with ocean views, but big home insurance firms are retreating from the Atlantic coast amid fears that climate change will unleash more dangerous hurricanes. The insurers say the risk of a “perfect storm” causing vast damage to communities along the Atlantic coast has simply become too high since Hurricane Katrina obliterated New Orleans in 2005.

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As a result, the country’s largest home insurers, State Farm and Allstate, have decided not to seek new business along wide stretches of the US East Coast. Tens of thousands of US homeowners may thus find it more arduous to obtain new insurance for coveted coastal properties in coming years. The insurers point out, however, that beachfront property prices have skyrocketed in recent years, coastal populations have boomed and building codes in some areas are not vigorous enough. State Farm, the United States’ biggest …

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