Emerging Home Risks: The New Normal for Property Claims

📍 This is Something Different.

The floods swept in unexpectedly in the Texas Hill Country. The lazy, docile, picturesque Guadalupe River became a raging torrent. A bus carrying a group of teens wrapping up a week of church camp at Pot O’ Gold Ranch were trying to get home. The bus driver, Richard “Whitey” Koons, unaware of how much and how fast the river had swollen, drove onto the small bridge at the edge of the camp. The bus stalled on the bridge. Koons tried to throw it in reverse and get off the bridge, but a van, also caught in the raging water, was too close and blocked his effort. The bus was swept into the torrent. Ten teenagers died in that terrible incident. Thirty-three survived, some of them clinging to trees until rescued.

You may think this is in reference to the recent flooding—the terrible 2025 tragedy—but it actually occurred on July 17, 1987. That bus driver and youth pastor, Richard Koons, and I were friends. We still are. He followed me as pastor in an East Texas church after I left. I was not at that camp that year, but we all felt it.

👀 Something old, something new?

A few millennia ago, the ever-wise King Solomon of Israel stated, “What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Climate change “experts” tell us we are entering a new era rife with dangers we have never seen before, forgetting we are told of things like an Ice Age; horrible, devastating droughts; epic flooding; and so on, in world history.

Whether the things we are witnessing in the weather today are new and never experienced before or they are part of some cycle so large it feels new is beside the point here. We are in a new age in the claims industry. It is not that we have never seen the floods, wildfires, hailstorms, hurricanes, derechos, and tornados before; we have just not often seen them with such frequency and intensity.

Climate change or not, we are experiencing claims change, and we must be prepared to service the claims and the claimants. A tragedy does not have to become a travesty, and will not, if we are on point, well-prepared, and ready to serve.

Insurers, claimants, and adjusters must adapt in real time to these escalating events. The challenge is real, and not for the ill-prepared or faint of heart.

📈 The “New Normals” Surge

🔥 Wildfires in the Wrong Places

– We have entered the age of unnatural disasters.
– Wildfires are no longer confined to dry Western states.
– Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi all saw significant wildfire activity in 2023–2024.

📊 Data:

– According to NOAA, the U.S. had over 59,000 wildfires in 2023, burning 2.6 million acres.
– Texas had the largest wildfire in state history in Feb 2024 (Smokehouse Creek Fire): 1 million+ acres.

📝 Anecdote:

– A homeowner in Walker County, TX, watched a grassfire move uphill into their property line—unusual terrain for such a blaze.

💨 Microbursts and Wind Bursts

– Localized weather events delivering 60–100 mph wind damage in minutes.
– Often confused with tornadoes, but much harder to predict.

📊 Data:

– NOAA’s Storm Events Database shows a 27% rise in reported microburst and straight-line wind events since 2015.

📝 Anecdote:

– In June 2024, a sudden downburst in the Houston Heights area peeled roofing from 11 homes—no tornado warning, no time to prepare.

🌩️ Hail: Bigger, Harder, Costlier

– Hail is falling in larger sizes and more southern regions.
– Trend toward multiple hail cores in single supercells.

📊 Data:

– Verisk (2023): Hail caused $10 billion+ in damages in the U.S., with Texas consistently ranking #1 in frequency and severity.
– NOAA reports hail 3”+ in diameter doubled in frequency from 2010 to 2023.

📝 Anecdote:

– Midland adjuster: “We used to see one or two roof hits per block. Now it’s the entire block stripped bare.”

📉 Post-Beryl/Cindy Insurance Landscape

📌 Shifting Carrier Strategies

– After Hurricane Beryl (July 2025) and Cindy, carriers are reevaluating exposure in Gulf Coast and Southern states.

📊 Insight:

– Multiple insurers paused or restricted new home policies in coastal Texas post-Beryl.
– Average deductible increases: from 1% to 2–5% of dwelling coverage on wind/hurricane perils.

🛠️ Stricter Underwriting and Inspections

– Pre-coverage inspections becoming more common.
– Older roofs, high-risk geography, and prior claims now flagged instantly via AI models.

⚖️ Evolving Definitions

– “Act of God” exclusions vs. “sudden and accidental” wording—growing gray zones.
– Coverage disputes rising on claims tied to ambiguous weather causes (e.g., wind-driven rain vs. roof failure). Don’t we love that “wind-driven rain” factor here in Texas?

🔍 Implications for Independent Adjusters

📚 More Complex Claims

– Hybrid weather events (hail + flood + power outage) = tangled claims and multiple carriers involved.

🧭 Need for Regional Expertise

Knowing weather trends by ZIP code is now table stakes. This is one reason, as a national provider, we constantly seek and train adjusters in every region.
Join our team today!
Training on emerging perils is essential to keep pace with carrier expectations.
Visit our sister company, Adjust U for training opportunities year round.

📷 Documentation and Drone Tech Critical

– Drones and AI-scanned roof assessments reduce error in multi-hazard zones.

🔮 Looking Ahead

– Solomon pegged it, you know. It’s not just that the weather is changing. It’s that the risk profile of the American home is evolving and we must evolve with it.
– Staying current means staying useful—and employable.