This month, the Palisades and Eaton Canyon fires in Southern California, both accelerated by extreme Santa Ana winds, destroyed over 10,000 structures and caused the death of more than two dozen people. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated, including CREATE Director Randolph Hall. Outside of the fire zones, additional losses occurred due to wind damage, including falling trees.
In the aftermath, CREATE’s work on the economics of catastrophic disasters has attracted attention, highlighting the need to build resilience to threats that have grown as climate has changed. Adam Rose, Senior Research Fellow, was cited for his work on disaster recovery and its effects on communities and costs of construction. In the Orange County Register, Rose stated that “local government policy to promote rebuilding and cut through the red tape on housing permits, and government assistance… will help. But what’s going to hurt is a lot of people are going to be afraid about the next fire.” In the Los Angeles Times, Rose emphasized the complexity of recovery: “the X factors in the revival … will be altogether different ones: infrastructure, drought, climate change and our politics.” Rose is the lead author of The Economic Consequences of Disaster.
At an upcoming seminar at Stanford University, CREATE Senior Fellow Matthew Kahn will speak on “Adaptation Incentives in a Risky World: Lessons from Los Angeles,” addressing how insurance and other factors can affect risk-taking decisions. Examples include incentives affecting construction in hazardous areas and inadequate investment in construction methods that reduce the potential for damage. Kahn is the author of “How the Insurance Industry Can Push Us to Prepare for Climate Change” in the Harvard Business Review.
CREATE serves our nation through the creation of advanced models and tools for evaluation of the risks, costs, and consequences of threats to human livelihood and through assessment of strategies to mitigate risks and respond to emergencies. CREATE’s approach is integrated, holistic, and impartial, providing independent assessment of hazards, both malevolent and unintentional, including terrorism, accidents, and naturally occurring events.
Posted January 23, 2025