Living on the Edge

Moving to an area that’s prone to forces of nature? Remember to take the necessary precautions to protect yourself

Mother Nature hasn’t exactly been kind to American homeowners lately – particularly those living in areas historically prone to disaster.

In recent years, communities across the country have suffered what seems like one natural calamity after another – from hurricanes on the East and Gulf coasts to record flooding in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest to ruinous wildfires out West.

What can homeowners or homebuyers do to protect themselves and their investments from nature’s fury? Has the time come for coastal residents to flee to higher – not to mention tinder-free – ground? Should homebuyers always try to avoid potential hotspots?

According to some experts, the answers to these questions may depend on where you live, what you can or can’t insure, and, perhaps most importantly, how much risk you’re willing to take.

In Southern California – where in October 2007 a series of catastrophic wildfires killed nine people, burned more than 500,000 acres and destroyed at least 1,500 homes – those in the know say it boils down to one key word: insurance.

“Before even thinking of moving to a fire-prone area, you need to determine if insurers can even ‘write’ that area,” says John Konecki, agency director for Konecki Insurance Brokerage in San Diego. “The question would be: Do you have a carrier that will cover property in an area close to a canyon, or with a particular degree of brush exposure, or with all the other factors that determine brush hazards for a given property?”

“Fortunately for sellers,” he adds, “there are things you can do to make your house more attractive to carriers. You can add sprinkler systems, fire alarms, and do appropriate brush clearance. You can make sure you have fire-resistant landscaping.”

While that may seem like a lot of effort for the reward of living in an area that might very well fall victim to wildfires, San Diego resident Kathy Kirk firmly believes it’s worth the trouble. Kirk, whose home in the Cuyamaca Mountains is just east of and 4,000 feet above San Diego proper, knows firsthand the inherent danger of living in a fire zone. Before moving to Southern California in 1998, she fought forest fires in Montana.

“I’ve seen real wildfires, and have actually been caught up in them,” she says. “Once I saw the power of them, I realized there was nothing you could do about them – they’re a force of nature. When I moved here, I had to put in my own fire system, water tanks and fire hydrants – all by San Diego County code. When you build up here, you have to know that no one is going to come out here and fight your fire. Living here is about being self-reliant.”

She should know. Since moving to the Cuyamaca Mountains, Kirk has been burnt out of her home twice. She says that what keeps her from living in perpetual fear of the next blaze is a deep-rooted belief in what she calls “applied spirituality.”

“I believe that I create the whole of my own reality,” she says. “I realized when my trailer burned down in the first fire that I’d been wishing for a new life, so the trailer blew up. Now I have a house.”

Asked, however, whether she carries fire insurance for the house, Kirk quickly replies, “Oh, yeah, by Farmers (Insurance Co.) – $2,000 a year.”

Florida resident Mike Hickman also has seen his share of natural calamities. Though the Lakeland resident’s home is well inland on the Florida peninsula, it was struck by two of the four devastating hurricanes that swept through the state in 2004. The home emerged from the onslaught structurally sound and with little interior damage.

The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was one of the most devastating on record, killing more than 3,100 people and causing roughly $50 billion in damage. But as terrible as they were, Hickman says, the hurricanes of that year also revealed something from which Florida residents can take comfort: They showed that the strict building standards the Sunshine State put in place after 1993’s Hurricane Andrew made a real difference.

“There’s nothing like experience to teach you a good lesson,” says Hickman, whose company, Hickman Homes Inc. in Lakeland, designs and builds houses in central Florida. “After Andrew, the state really got more stringent with its building codes. The Florida Home Builders Association got more focused in terms of disaster relief and in educating builders. So, when the storms hit in 2004, we were much more prepared for them both in preparation and in construction.”

Both Hickman and Edie Ousley, communications director for the Florida Home Builders Association in Tallahassee, said homebuyers should talk to their broker or builder about where the area they’re considering moving to falls on the state’s Wind-borne Debris Region map. The map, which can be viewed online at www.dca.fl.us, breaks regions down by their wind-speed potential. Consumers also should consider purchasing properties built after the post-Hurricane Andrew construction requirements were enacted.

“Reports from FEMA and the state’s disaster unit after Hurricane Charley (in 2004) indicated that new-home construction performed exactly as it was intended to do under the new building standards – with minimal damage and no lives lost,” says Ousley, whose association represents some 21,000 businesses in the housing construction field. “It was truly tested, and we know that it works.”

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