A.G. Gancarski
Hurricane Milton continues its hellish trawl toward the Sunshine State, and Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t offering preemptive reassurances about the insurance market in its inevitable aftermath.
Asked about Citizens Property Insurance’s “exposure” in the anticipated track by Gary Fineout, the solvency of which he has questioned, the Governor said it was “too early” to discern the ultimate impact of this historic storm and its “major, major impact” on one of the most beleaguered insurance markets in the country.
While DeSantis said the impact of the last hurricane was minimal, given “the wind damage on Helene was a very small portion of the flood damage,” he equivocated when it came to this storm.
“Certainly since I’ve been Governor, you game plan different types of scenarios that are going to the state. And a major hurricane into Tampa Bay, given how vulnerable it is to storm surge, how low lying it is, is one of the most significant events that we can respond to.”
DeSantis cautioned that “it’s too early to say whether this is definitely going to go in and hit Tampa Bay.”
“Clearly, there are models that suggest that it will. Obviously, we are proceeding and assuming that that’s something that may happen. But I think it’s too soon to say. There’s a lot of uncertainty with this storm,” the Governor said.
Ahead of Hurricane Helene, DeSantis was not pessimistic about the state insurance market, describing it as being in “good shape.”
“We had a major last year with Idalia. It was a Category 3, close to Category 4. And in 2024 so far, I think we’ve had 57 companies file either no increases or reduction in rates. That is not happening in very many states around this country,” the Governor said while briefing reporters on storm impacts.
“You have people that are actually increasing their exposure in the state of Florida. And I think part of it is obviously we had to do some reforms a year and a half ago that put us more in line with how these markets function in other states, and I think that’s attractive.”
Ahead of the storm season in May, the Office of Insurance Regulation reassured people of what Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky called a “strengthened and reliable insurance market for policyholders.”
DeSantis has warned about Citizens’ bloat in the past. He noted in 2022 that Citizens Property Insurance was “unfortunately undercapitalized” and that the company could go “belly up” if it had to weather a significant storm.
The Governor also made news last year when he suggested that homeowners should “knock on wood” and hope the state didn’t get hit by a hurricane.
But whereas he extolled the benefits of new construction ahead of Helene, this time around, with a Category 5 storm in the Gulf, he’s not quite so bullish on the buoyancy of the insurance sector.
He also did not suggest people in the storm’s path “knock on wood” on Monday either.
11 comments
Billy Rotberg
October 7, 2024 at 5:06 pm
All that you can do is pay attention to the location of the hurricane and adjust accordingly. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Bobblehead Kammy
October 7, 2024 at 6:43 pm
My best to everyone here in Florida. This is a wicked storm. Make sure you take precautions and best of luck to all of us that live here.
Dont Say FLA
October 8, 2024 at 7:57 am
Wow, you’re right!
Everybody should plan for a second Turnip J Truck Presidency and then whatever he would call it after his 4 years would be up.
If you are ready for that, just add some plywood to your windows. You’re all set!
A Day without MAGA
October 7, 2024 at 7:38 pm
I predicted the storm a week ago,I am not a psychic, or meteorologist ,but a believer in science,luck is not gonna protect from the storm,but the law of probability Tallahassee and Miami are generally safe ,but evacuate South toward Miami amd North toward Tallahassee, anyone in the middle of Florida will beastmode by Milton Port Charlotte is my dead reckoning for Milton, even though Tampa and Orlando will get the worst Zoomearth Port Charlotte
A Day without MAGA
October 7, 2024 at 7:48 pm
They are saying 200 mph , before it hit landfall Wednesday
Frankie M.
October 7, 2024 at 10:48 pm
Ronnie is full of predictions when it comes to hurricanes hitting the Panhandle but now he’s silent.
THE "SAGE E"
October 7, 2024 at 7:55 pm
Good evening beloved Un-Decided Voters,
All of the voters committed to a Harris Administration version 2.0 are secertly thankfull Florida has Ron & Casey DeSantis overseeing this impending landfall of Milton The Hurricane.
Thats why I am speaking directly to our Beloved Un-Decided Voters for the upcoming POTUS VOTE.
Your Trump vote will pave the way for putting Ron & Casey DeSantis in The White House for the subsequant next TWO POTUS Terms…and you know thats a good thing.
Thank you Beloved Un-Decided Voters, everyone stay safe and follow any evacuation orders by your Local Officials. We are not going to be able to assist any “Florida Riders On The Storm” once the winds get over 35 MPH.
THANKS AGAIN,
THE “SAGE E”
Skeptic
October 8, 2024 at 12:11 pm
Appreciate the support for Amendment 3. You do realize that your idol has stacked the deck for JD as his successor, not Gov. kinky boots, no?
Correcting another oft-repeated misrepresentation
October 7, 2024 at 7:56 pm
Citizens will not go “belly up” because the state gave it the ability to specially assess all policies in the state to cover any shortfalls.
Dont Say FLA
October 8, 2024 at 8:01 am
Rhonda’s “special assessment”:
Step 1: CItizens pays everybody $300,000, on average, to repair their homes
Step 2: Every Citizens policy holder get a “special assessment” bill for $400,000 additional premium.
Yeah, Citizens will be fine, but citizens will be belly up. If they’re lucky, they’ll be belly up, drowned in the Gulf’s waters … in Orlando.
FLPatriot
October 8, 2024 at 9:07 am
More DuhSantis policy failures.
Comments are closed.