Hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, billions of dollars is cost of extreme heat in California

A new report from the California insurance department looked at seven extreme heat events in the state from 2013 to 2022 and found they took the lives of several hundred residents, injured thousands of others and had a total economic impact of $7.7 billion. One of the main goals of the report is to provide data that can help inform and lead to action by policymakers, governments, businesses and the insurance industry. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the department are under pressure to tackle insurance availability and affordability issues. The report assesses the insured and uninsured costs of heat. Among the recommendations were expanded planning for disasters and using strategies to reduce heat-related sickness and injuries.