Please read the article,Kimberly Lankford, Deducting Disaster Losses on Your Tax Return, Kiplinger (Oct 2018)(Links to an external site.)

.Prior to the 2018 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, taxpayers could deduct personal casualty losses, even if there was no Federally Declared Natural Disaster Area. This was allowed as long as the property was destroyed by a casualty or stolen. After the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, only property destroyed in a Federally Declared Natural Disaster Area is allowed a personal casualty loss deduction. Do you believe that the personal casualty loss deduction for non-disaster areas should be reinstated for the 2019 tax year? Why or Why not?