{"id":1080,"date":"2025-07-11T20:12:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T20:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2025-07-14T15:45:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T15:45:47","slug":"texas-a-microcosmof-u-s-climate-perils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/11\/texas-a-microcosmof-u-s-climate-perils\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas: A Microcosmof U.S. Climate Perils"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Devastating flooding in central Texas over the July 4, 2025, weekend highlighted several aspects of the state\u2019s risk profile that also are relevant to the rest of the country, according to the latest Triple-I Issues Brief<\/a>. One is the rising incidence of severe inland flooding<\/a> related to tropical storms.<\/p>\n

Tropical Storm Barry made landfall in Mexico on June 29 and weakened quickly, but its remnant moisture drifted northward into Texas, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University and a Triple-I non-resident scholar.<\/p>\n

\u201cA slow-moving low-pressure area developed and helped bring up the moisture-rich air rom Barry and concentrated it over the Hill Country of central Texas,\u201d Klotzbach said. \u201cThe soil was also extremely hard from prior drought conditions, which exacerbated the flash flooding that occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such flooding far from landfall has become more frequent and severe in recent years. \u00a0In Texas \u2013 as in much of the United States, particularly far from the coasts \u2013 few homeowners have flood insurance. Many believe flood damage is covered by their homeowners\u2019 or renters\u2019 insurance. Others believe the coverage is not worth buying if their mortgage lender doesn\u2019t require it. \u00a0In Kerr County, where much of the July 4 flooding took place, flood insurance take-up rates through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) were 2.5 percent.<\/p>\n

Convective storms, fires, and freezes<\/strong><\/p>\n

But tropical storms aren\u2019t always the impetus for flooding. In July 2023, a series of intense thunderstorms resulted in heavy rainfall, deadly flash floods, and severe river flooding in eastern Kentucky and central Appalachia. The conditions that lead to such severe convective storms also are prevalent in Texas.<\/p>\n

Severe convective storms are a growing source of losses for property\/casualty insurers. According to Gallagher Re<\/a>, severe convective storm events in 2023 and 2024 \u201chave cost global insurers a remarkable US$143 billion, of which US$120 billion occurred in the U.S. alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given its aridity and winds, it should be no surprise that Texas is highly subject to wildfire \u2013 but the state also has been increasingly prone to severe winter storms and debilitating freezes. On Valentine\u2019s Day 2021, snow fell across most of Texas, accumulating as temperatures stayed below freezing and precipitation continued through the night. A catastrophic failure of the state\u2019s independent electric grid exacerbated these conditions as snow and ice shut down roads and many homes suffered pipe bursts and multiple days without power.<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019s 2021 experience illustrates how grid instability can act as a \u201crisk multiplier\u201d for natural disasters. The entire U.S. electric power grid is increasingly vulnerable as the infrastructure ages and proliferating AI data centers increase demand. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Need for data and collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n

The severe damage and loss of life from the July 4 flooding have naturally raised the question of whether the Trump Administration\u2019s reductions in National Weather Service \u00a0staffing contributed to the high human cost of this event. While it is hard to say with certainty, these cuts have affected how NWS works \u2013 for example, in its use of weather balloons<\/a> to monitor weather. As early as April, staffing data gathered by NWS<\/a> indicated that field offices were \u201ccritically understaffed\u201d.<\/p>\n

In June, panelists at Triple-I\u2019s Joint Industry Forum expressed concern<\/a> about the impact of the federal cuts on weather monitoring and modeling, as well as programs to help communities adequately prepare for and recover from disasters. Triple-I has published extensively on the need for insurers to shift from exclusively focusing on repairing and replacing property to predicting events and preventing damage.<\/p>\n

Collective action at all levels \u2013 individual, commercial, and government \u2013 is needed to mitigate risks, build resilience, and reduce fraud and legal system abuse. Triple-I and its members are committed to fostering such action and regularly provide data and analysis to inform the necessary conversations.<\/p>\n

Learn More:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Triple-I Brief Highlights Rising Inland Flood Risk<\/a><\/p>\n

Hurricane Helene Highlights Inland Flood Protection Gap<\/a><\/p>\n

JIF 2025: Federal Cuts Imperil Resilience Efforts<\/a><\/p>\n

Weather Balloons\u2019 Role in Readiness, Resilience<\/a><\/p>\n

ClimateTech Connect Confronts Climate Peril From Washington Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

BRIC Funding Loss Underscores Need for Collective Action on Climate Resilience<\/a><\/p>\n

JIF 2024: Collective, Data-Driven Approaches Needed to Address Climate-Related Perils<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas Winter Storm Costs Raise Extreme-Weather Flags for States, Localities<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Devastating flooding in central Texas over the July 4, 2025, weekend highlighted several aspects of the state\u2019s risk profile that also are relevant to the rest of the country, according to the latest Triple-I Issues Brief. One is the rising incidence of severe inland flooding related to tropical storms. Tropical Storm Barry made landfall in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insurance-flood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1083,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions\/1083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egocene.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}