" Economic estimates continue to climb, with the latest numbers from the AccuWeather forecasting service pegging total damages at $135B-$150B. At those levels, the wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4% of the annual GDP of the state of California. There is no doubt that will further shake up the insurance and reinsurance industry, which has already been raising the cost of coverage for dangerous areas, and dropping or refusing to issue new policies.

What to watch: Significant double-digit increases in homeowners insurance are on tap in the coming years, which is likely to weigh on property values (or even across state lines). New rules in California also require insurers to underwrite a minimum percentage of policies in high-risk areas based on their market share, but that threatens to raise premiums. Funding for firefighting and emergency resources will need to be shored up as well, including the monitoring of utilities and prevention, putting additional strain on state and federal budgets. According to JPMorgan, the publicly traded insurers most exposed to California include Allstate (ALL), Chubb (CB) and Travelers (TRV)."

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