Hurricane Ian’s assault on southwest Florida last fall is driving out middle- and working-class people and replacing them with deep-pocketed buyers.

 

In the waterfront cities of Fort Myers Beach and Cape Coral, even homeowners with flood insurance are finding they often cannot afford the costs of rebuilding their houses to modern building codes, as federal rules demand. Homeowners who want to rebuild often have to pay much of the cost on their own, because the federal flood insurance program caps payouts at far below coastal areas’ market values. And the actual insurance payments after Ian were even lower. Instead, many ended up selling their properties as vacant land, according to real estate transaction data shared with POLITICO.

 

People fleeing the communities where Ian made landfall include workers and retirees who had bought their homes decades ago, when teachers, firefighters and others of modest means could still afford cottages and stilt houses blocks from the Gulf of Mexico’s white-sand beaches. The buyers, according to transaction data, include people and corporations who can afford to pay $1 million or more in cash.

 

The result is yet another example of how worsening disasters tied to a changing climate are altering ordinary Americans’ lives: First, storms like Ian wreck their homes. Then, shrinking insurance markets, government rules designed to limit future risk, and a still-hot demand for housing combine to make some of their communities unaffordable.

 

Federal officials have long been aware of the financial barriers to recovery facing many communities, but the solutions have been elusive. The National Flood Insurance Program’s capped payout of $250,000 per home is too low to finance rebuilding in most waterfront towns, said Maria Honeycutt, who was a senior staffer on climate resilience policy in the Trump and Biden White Houses after working for 14 years at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But the federal program is insolvent, and Congress probably won’t increase the coverage ceiling.

 

If a dispute arises under your insurance policy, the Florida Property Damage Attorneys at the Consumer Law Office (CLO) can help you with your dispute, so that you can receive the compensation you are entitled to under your insurance policy. At CLO, we will take the time to review and interpret your policy to understand the full measure of damages available to you.

 

We have helped numerous home and business owners successfully recover the compensation they deserve. Best of all, there are no upfront fees, and we only get paid when you get paid by the insurance company.

 

Contact CLO Today 305-940-0924 for a FREE Comprehensive Property Damage assessment and consultation. Visit https://consumerlawoffice.com/