Weather Risk

One utility has already said it may need to cut power to 50,000 Southern California homes and businesses to prevent fires.

Floods are an excluded peril in standard homeowners policies, so those in areas in danger of flooding should consider additional coverage.

Complicating the matter is the fact that climate-fueled extreme weather can be hard to predict.

As Florida's property-insurance market has crumbled and home values have soared, many homeowners have been dropped by private insurers and cannot qualify for Citizens coverage because of the $700,000 cap.

Drought conditions followed by massive downpours are causing damaging and deadly flooding across the globe.

"If there's a direct-hit Category 5 storm that hits Miami, you're going to see 20 insurance companies go bankrupt and are not going to be able to pay claims. It's become a big problem," said South Florida insurance broker Joseph Gendelman.

The drought comes alongside a multi-month heatwave – the two elements combining to create the hottest, driest summer in the 61 years the government has recorded such data.

Meteorologists are describing the flooding as a 'once-in-200-years' event.