Florida homeowners fear Hurricane Helene damage will lead to already skyrocketing home insurance costs.
Already, 40,000 claims have been filed in Florida.
Sanibel Island, Fort Myers Beach and even downtown Fort Myers all took on water damage last Thursday as Helene brought flood water and storm surge into the communities as it made its way up the West Coast before making landfall in the Big Bend area of the state.
The concern for many is if Florida gets more storms, it could impact rising insurance rates facing homeowners like Sherry Rainbow-Friend.
“It's probably our very top concern we have about living anywhere close to the water, certainly, and anywhere in Florida,” Rainbow-Friend said.
She, like many, has seen her home insurance rates skyrocket since Hurricane Ian struck two years ago.
“It's so grossly unfair, and after you've been paying in so we are very concerned, yes,” Rainbow-Friend stated.
Her concern is storms like Helene could cause rates to rise even further in the coming year.
Doug Nellans with The Insurancenter of Fort Myers said it’s a valid concern.
“Even though we avoided a direct hit here in SWFL if a storm hits any part of Florida, it's detrimental to the overall insurance costs,” Nellans pointed out.
He said most of the claims filed so far have been flood-related, which is not covered in home insurance policies.
“So most of this will be paid for by the federal government's NFIP,” Nellans explained.
The cost of flood insurance policies have also been rising.
“It's been operating at a deficit for several decades, and the recent events are only going to exacerbate that situation,” Nellans said.
As for home insurance policies that cover wind damage, experts agree it’s too soon to tell if Helene or any other storms will impact future rates.
Mark Friedlander with the Insurance Information Institute said it’s not possible to say at this point.
You would have to be very speculative. It's not the type of storm that would trigger an alarm when it comes to rating Florida properties,” Friedlander said.