There’s No Such Thing as a Climate Haven
Hurricane Milton and other extreme weather events imperil not only people but also the US economic system, with insurance regulators trailing behind. You may be able to escape the flood, but the financial crises that follow will affect us all.
The economic crisis climate disasters could trigger would affect even those far from the winds and floods. (Kathleen Flynn / Washington Post)
As Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida last week, Billy Cox eyed the sky, talked to his neighbors, and decided to stay put.
He figured his home in Sarasota was on high ground, on a former cattle ranch just outside of mandatory evacuation orders. As the gathering storm slid east across the Gulf of Mexico, nearing the physical limit of how much heat could transfer into energy, his daughter Savannah texted late into the night, trying to convince him to “get the hell out of there,” he says.
Savannah Cox, who researches the role of financial systems in climate governance at the University of Sheffield in England, was worried not only for her family’s safety, but the consequences of yet another major hurricane hitting the state. “We’re facing futures that are radically unlike the past,” she says, whether or not people like her father are prepared to leave their homes.
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