As Hurricane Helene barreled through Florida, the storm’s winds and flooding left a trail of damaged homes in its wake, causing up to an estimated $6 billion in private insurance losses, according to global reinsurance broker Gallagher Re.
As homeowners assess the damage, the storm is again drawing attention to wobbly Florida’s property insurance market. Soaring premiums have squeezed homeowners, who shouldered a 45% increase in insurance rates from 2017 to 2022, according to a recent report from the Florida Policy Project.
The average annual premium for a Florida homeowner is $5,500 — about 140% higher than the average U.S. homeowner’s insurance premium of $2,285, according to Bankrate. The spike in costs sometimes leads people to forego insurance altogether, with some Florida residents telling CBS Miami that they’ve been socked with rates reaching $20,000 per year.
With extreme weather becoming more frequent and destructive due to climate change, homeowners in parts of the U.S. facing mounting risks are likely to see significantly higher insurance costs in the years ahead, according to a June paper from experts at the University of Wisconsin and University of Pennsylvania.
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“Property insurance serves as the front line of defense against climate risk for homeowners and real estate investors,” the researchers noted. “By 2053, we estimate that climate-exposed homeowners will be paying $700 higher annual premiums due to increasing wildfire and hurricane risk.”
The Climate Election: Rising home insurance costs, explained
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Separate research from Harvard University, Columbia University and the Federal Reserve found that Florida ranks among the top U.S. states for projected future economic losses linked to climate change.
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But insurance industry losses in Florida are affecting property coverage in the present, as well. Traditional insurers have pulled back from offering home policies in the state, especially in its more disaster-prone regions, with the insurer-of-last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., and newer insurers picking up the slack.
At the same time, those insurers are facing higher rates from reinsurance companies, which are financial businesses that offer insurance for insurers. Because insurance companies can get financially flattened by an extreme storm or other catastrophic event, they often turn to reinsurance companies to help mitigate the risk.
“Florida, much more than any other state in the country, is exposed to the global reinsurance market,” Jeff Brandes, founder and president of the Florida Policy Project, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Hurricanes highlight why reinsurers “are very cautious about lowering prices, which definitely impacts Floridians,” Brandes added, while noting that initial damage assessments suggest Helene’s impact on Florida properties appears to be less severe than initially feared.
“If this had shifted a few degrees east and hit Tampa Bay, the damages would be 20 times greater,” he said.
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How Hurricane Helene battered Florida
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In the meantime, recent reforms to Florida’s insurance market may provide some relief to cost-burdened homeowners. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping property insurance bill at the end of 2022 that aims to deter frivolous lawsuits and limit insurer costs.
Although that could help stave off rate increases in the short term, over the longer term Florida homeowners and insurers might be powerless as the planet continues to warm.
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“As losses from climate change worsen, the financial stability risks of insurers is likely to become even more pronounced,” noted the researchers from Harvard, Columbia and the Fed. “We are likely to see policymakers face difficult tradeoffs in maintaining affordability, availability and reliability of insurance markets.”
Aimee Picchi
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.
Tharin White, Lead Publisher at EYNTK.info and Drew Smith, Drew the Disney Dude join FOX 35’s Garrett Wymer live via Zoom to showcase the World Cup celebrations at LegoLand Florida, plus the Electric Ocean show taking off at SeaWorld Orlando.
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FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – A 21-year-old Fernandina Beach man is dead following a crash on State Road A1A in Nassau County Thursday night.
The Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene at South Fletcher Avenue and Askins Avenue around 9:30 p.m.
According to FHP, the motorcyclist was traveling northbound on S. Fletcher Ave. when he struck an unoccupied sport utility vehicle that was stopped perpendicular to the roadway in the northbound lane. Troopers say the SUV’s driver had exited the vehicle to unhitch a trailer at the time of the crash.
The front of the motorcycle collided with the left side of the SUV. The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, according to the report.
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FHP pronounced the motorcycle rider dead at the scene. The SUV driver was not injured.
The crash remains under investigation.
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
Florida health officials are pushing back at quarantine guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius exposed to the deadly Andes hantavirus.
One American who was on the cruise ship says she’s stuck in the middle and unable to leave federal quarantine.
“I’m being held hostage in this power struggle between a state and the federal government,” said Angela Perryman, 47, who has been at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit since May 11.
“I don’t think there has been a day since I’ve been here that I didn’t cry,” she said.
Perryman said that health officials previously told passengers that they would be able to leave federal quarantine by the end of May and spend the rest of their 42-day quarantine under home supervision. The first five went home June 1.
Like all Americans aboard the cruise ship, Perryman has tested negative for the Andes virus.
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Angela Perryman, seen here on an excursion from the MV Hondius, said she hasn’t been able to go a day without crying since she disembarked.Courtesy Angela Perryman
States were required by the CDC to station law enforcement or public health employees outside the homes of quarantined passengers for surveillance.
It was up to state health departments to figure out how to accomplish that for passengers who chose to go home.
Florida health officials, it appears, have a different approach.
“At this time, neither the state of Florida nor the Department is planning to implement round-the-clock surveillance measures,” Brian Wright, a spokesman for the Florida Health Department, said in an email. “The state does not believe unnecessarily intrusive restrictions are warranted when established public health practices can effectively protect both public health and personal freedom.”
The agency, which didn’t provide an official response, has named Dr. David Fitter to lead its response under the temporary leadership of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who has criticized the CDC’s restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Perryman, a Florida native, is one of 18 Americans who were on the Hondius when the rare hantavirus outbreak struck in May. They were taken to the Nebraska unit, where some of the first Covid patients who’d been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in early 2020, as well as several Ebola patients in 2014, were treated.
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As of Thursday, 10 of the Hondius passengers have left the federal facility and are now under surveillance in their home states, until the end of the virus’s full 42-day quarantine period, set to end June 22, a University of Nebraska Medical Center spokesperson confirmed.
The passengers’ trips home were coordinated by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, as well as local and state health departments.
The Hondius off the port of Praia, Cape Verde, on May 5.AFP via Getty Images file
“The individuals did not travel commercially, and appropriate biocontainment measures were in place during their transport,” the medical center said in a statement.
Eight passengers, including Perryman, remain in Nebraska. The only other passenger still in Nebraska who has spoken publicly about the ordeal is Jake Rosmarin, who’s posted about his time in quarantine on Instagram.
Generally, the virus is spread from rodents to people. The Andes strain is the only one known to spread from person to person.
The World Health Organization confirmed 13 cases of Andes virus associated with the cruise ship, and three people have died. None of the Americans have developed symptoms.
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That fatality rate — 23% — is one of the reasons health officials have been particularly focused on keeping any potential for viral spread contained. And the incubation period is exceptionally long. It can take up to six weeks for symptoms of hantavirus to appear.
Perryman said that all she wants to do is walk into her yard and take photos of birds and bugs.
“I want to go home,” she said, “and stay in my house and have no contact with anyone.”
