There's a reason they call Warren Buffett the Oracle of Omaha. The multibillionaire from Nebraska says he predicted what we're currently facing.

"I've always felt a pandemic would happen sometime," Buffett told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview.

He had warned of a coming "megacatastrophe" over a year ago, in the 2019 annual letter to his Berkshire Hathaway company shareholders. "The Big One," Buffett wrote, would be far more devastating than hurricanes Katrina and Michael.

He said Berkshire, which owns Geico and several other insurance companies, would suffer "very big" losses, but would be ready to bounce back the very next day.

The folksy financial guru knows the importance of preparing for the worst — and Americans have been following his lead during the coronavirus pandemic.

They're buying life insurance policies in surging numbers, people in the industry say, because they're worried about catching COVID-19 and want financial protection for their families.

Coronavirus drives up sales of life insurance

The rising toll from the coronavirus has served as a reminder that life is fragile — which has sparked heavy interest in life insurance.

"We believe there are many people who have been putting off buying life insurance, and the pandemic is creating more of a sense of urgency around it," says Abby Reddy, co-founder of the life insurance comparison site Quotacy.

"It’s also very possible that the uneasiness of the situation is leading people to place more relevance in life insurance in general, which is a very good thing, even if the reason behind it is unfortunate," she adds.

Quotacy saw a 25% increase in people applying for policies in March and April, versus January and February, which are usually "more active months for life insurance interest" coming with the start of the new year, says Reddy.

Haven Life — part of MassMutual life insurance — reports that during March it saw a 42% jump in sales of term life insurance policies, good for a limited number of years.

Coverage is easier to get than you may have heard

There have been reports insurers are turning some consumers away in the midst of the outbreak as the companies cope with low interest rates on their investments.

But Reddy says Quotacy hasn't detected any increase in rejections.

"The life insurance carriers we partner with are the most financially sound and highest rated in the country. Many of these insurance carriers have been around since the before the Great Depression," she says.

In fact, Quotacy has observed insurers being more consumer-friendly during the pandemic, not less. For example, companies have come up with workarounds when it's tough to get an applicant's medical records because clinics are closed or short-staffed.

"Several insurance companies are making use of electronic health records during this time to cut down on this problem, allowing clients to share records from their clinic’s patient portals with the insurance company in lieu of ordering medical records," Reddy says.

Carriers also are providing consumers with a lot of leeway on the physicals often required for coverage.

You may be given "up to 120 days to actually go get the medical exam, giving you the opportunity to get the coverage today and delay the time for you to be able to complete that hopefully to a point where the world is in a better place," Haven Life CEO Yaron Ben-Zvi told NBC's Today show.

Or, you might just find a policy that doesn't even require an exam, Reddy says.

Policies remain very affordable during the pandemic

Some consumers have been snapping up coverage not only because they're concerned about getting sick and want their families to be taken care of but also because they're worried rates will go up due to the coronavirus, Reddy says.

"While we aren’t seeing many increases in term life insurance pricing, it’s always a possibility," she says.

But policies remain very affordable, at rates that usually surprise consumers.

"Term life insurance is typically overestimated by three times what it actually costs," says Reddy. "If an applicant applies through us and they are hesitant about their final offer, we work with them to bring their price down by adjusting the term length or coverage amount."

According to Haven Life, a healthy 35-year-old woman could get $500,000 worth of coverage for 20 years — and at a cost of only around $20 a month.

"People are often shocked by that. It's less than you're spending on your coffee budget for the month," Ben-Zvi says.

Like Warren Buffett, you can be ready for a worst-case situation, and it only takes a matter of seconds. You can use a site like Quotacy to compare policies and premiums and find peace of mind for your family quickly, and at the best possible price.