Loosely speaking, a natural disaster is an occurrence in nature in which a singular force of nature takes a heavy toll and creates devastation and destruction in its wake in accordance with the element that is entailed in said disaster. These disasters can be anything from an earthquake in which tectonic plates shift and cause the ground to become unstable and cause often large ruptures in the earth’s surface often resulting in gashes or holes in the earth; hurricanes, in which high winds meet up with raging storms on the ocean and cause huge wave ridden storms to ravage the coast; tornadoes, in which cold fronts and warm fronts collide in the air and cause a funnel of wind that can tear entire houses from their foundations in some cases.
No matter which natural disaster blows over an area, the harsh elemental damage often not only causes environmental damages, but also affects the economy. One of the main things that these natural disasters affect are home owners insurance rates. In many cases, homeowners insurance will require home owners or potential home owners that desire a loan to purchase a certain type of insurance before the loan process can be finalized. The financial institution that the potential homeowner or current homeowner is trying to borrow a loan from will often require a proof of insurance from the company that is going to be insuring the home before the loan process can be finalized.
Insurance in a paradise like Hawaii is no different from the continental United States. Insurance is often affected by natural happenstances such as the violent thunderstorms that frequent the island of Hawaii. In Hawaii, homeowners insurance often requires a separate line of script to include thunderstorm damage, Tsunami damage, hurricane damage, and earthquake damage. This is because financial institutions of the area of Hawaii such as banks and loan companies will often require proof that these things are insured so that these institutions will be safe in their investment in the home.
The different regions of Hawaii carry more or less financial liability depending on where the area is and its history. For instance, the smaller islands like Niihau have higher hurricane insurance rates because of its isolation, whereas Maui or the island of Hawaii have lower ratings on hurricanes because of the size of the island. Honolulu will have a more standardized rate because it is located in the middle of the island chain.