Australian man’s home reduced to rubble in LA fires – as his sister reveals the harsh truth few Aussies understand

An Australian man has lost his home in the devastating fires in Los Angeles, while his sister exposed the key differences between the dire situation in California and what they would encounter in an Australian bushfire.

Glen Whelan, 39, moved from Melbourne to California a decade ago to live and work, but his home in the Pacific Palisades was destroyed last week when wildfires swept through the city.

He recorded a video for his sister Catherine Cruse while going through the rubble of his former home, revealing that everything he owned had been reduced to ash and rubble.

“He and his partner have nothing left but the clothes they are wearing,” she said.

‘The insurance only covers half of what they lost. If they pay out at all.

“My heart breaks for him, we can’t replace all the memories he lost.”

She said there was one significant difference between Australia and the US during natural disasters.

“America is not like Australia, where our government will step in and provide emergency funding – they are on their own.

His house was destroyed by the fire and is now reduced to a pile of ash and rubble

“They are currently staying in a hotel, which is not sustainable, and trying to find rental accommodation in a city where thousands are in the same situation.”

Tens of thousands of displaced LA residents have lost everything, forcing insurance companies to make huge payouts.

But customers of one of California’s largest insurers were left without coverage after the company canceled fire coverage for thousands of homeowners in the Pacific Palisades last summer to avoid “financial failure.”

State Farm said in 2023 it would stop accepting new insurance applications for California homeowners and added last year that it would stop covering 72,000 select homes in the state due to the frequency and severity of wildfires in high-risk areas .

Even if residents are still covered by insurance, they could face a $115 billion shortfall because insurance companies are likely to cover only $20 billion of the $135 billion in estimated losses.

“The concern is not whether insurance companies will pay out for damages, but rather how much and how long it will last,” Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a California-based nonprofit consumer group, told NBC.

“For the people who lose their homes to these wildfires, there will be battles over coverage.”

The 39-year-old’s home is among thousands lost in the California fire as authorities continue to battle the flames

Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades have been burning for more than a week as fires continue to wreak havoc in coveted California neighborhoods

“My concern is that the insurance companies can’t handle all the claims and file for bankruptcy and that’s that. It’s scary,” said construction worker Ivan De La Torre, 32, whose uncle and sister both lost their homes in Altadena, a suburb north of Los Angeles.

The fires could even maintain upward pressure on insurance premiums in Australia, at a time when many are already sacrificing insurance due to the cost of living crisis.

All Australian insurers themselves underwrite insurance with the international reinsurance industry, and if these companies face huge payouts, they will in turn pass that on to the insurance companies, who will pass it on to their customers.

Alix Pearce, general manager of climate, social policy and international engagement at the Insurance Council of Australia, says it is too early to predict whether the LA fires will have cost implications for local insurance markets.

Thousands have lost homes to the fires and nearly 90,000 people are under evacuation orders

“However, the California wildfires have occurred in the context of a global reinsurance industry already under pressure from more frequent and severe extreme weather and rising inflationary pressures,” she said.

Described as insurance for insurers, companies take out reinsurance with larger global companies to limit their losses in the event they have to pay out more claims than expected, such as when a natural disaster occurs.

The fires have devastated neighbors in west Los Angeles, inhabited by wealthy people and celebrities

Ms Pearce said Australia remained well insured overall, but upward pressure on premiums was particularly evident in high-risk parts of the country, due to extreme weather events, inflationary pressures, global reinsurance prices and supply chain shortages.

“These factors are widening the gap in insurance protection, leaving more Australians vulnerable when disaster strikes and increasing pressure on government resources to respond,” she explained.

The latest numbers report that 24 people have died in LA’s three active fires: the Palisades fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles history, the Eaton fire, located northeast of the Palisades fire, and the Hurst fire fire, on the north.

Rory Sykes, a 32-year-old Australian man, was killed Thursday when his mother’s Malibu estate was destroyed by fire.

Severe drought, high heat and high winds have intensified the destruction, with flames now spreading across 116 square kilometers of the state.