Cedar Key, Florida resident Michael Presley Bobbitt tells Stuart Varney concerning the on-the-ground expertise in his space following Hurricane Helenes devastation and the way the federal response has been.
One other hurricane is barreling towards Florida, placing residents and the state’s already battered property insurance coverage business on edge.
Hurricane Milton has hit the Class 5 stage and is projected to hit the Sunshine State on Wednesday, which might make it the second main storm to hit Florida in lower than two weeks because the Southeast continues to reel from the destruction of lethal Hurricane Helene.
The specter of one other storm couldn’t come at a worse time for weary owners whose charges have been surging throughout the U.S. for years. However actual property dealer Ryan Serhant, the founder and CEO of SERHANT, just lately instructed FOX Enterprise that Florida is in a house insurance coverage disaster.
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Residents of Florida, essentially the most hurricane-prone state within the nation, paid a median of $10,996 in annual owners’ insurance coverage premiums final yr, and Insurify tasks their charges will leap by 7% to a median of $11,759 by the tip of 2024.
However even for individuals who can afford the rising charges, Florida owners are seeing their protection dropped and left scrambling after no less than seven insurers have been declared bancrupt in Florida since early 2022.
As of this time final yr, roughly 15% of householders in Florida did not have property insurance coverage, greater than twice the nationwide common of seven%, in response to the Insurance coverage Data Institute.
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The state has applied a sequence of reforms to sort out the problem lately, together with sweeping laws geared toward cracking down on lawsuit abuse. However within the meantime, annual property insurance coverage premiums have continued to soar.
Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert discusses the aftermath of Hurricane Helene as one other storm bears down on Florida.
Earlier this yr, forecasting service WeatherBell Analytics predicted that 2024 can be a “hurricane season from hell,” and the devastation from Helene, which has up to now value greater than 230 People their lives, has confirmed to be prescient.
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Milton presents an extra menace. At 175 mph, the storm is the strongest Atlantic hurricane in 5 years since Hurricane Dorian in 2019, in response to FOX Climate, and Milton can be tied for the fourth-strongest storm since recordkeeping started.
FOX Enterprise’ Kristen Altus contributed to this report.
