Fort Myers Beach homeowners welcome flood insurance discount

Fort Myers Beach residents and business owners are set to receive significant relief on their flood insurance bills. The discount is being met with cautious relief from people still recovering from years of storm damage and rising expenses.

“It’s astronomical. It’s costly,” said Nancy, a Fort Myers Beach resident who has watched insurance costs climb while her condo complex works through a lengthy rebuild. “Anything that helps would be wonderful for the residents here.”

While town leaders call the move a significant step forward, homeowners say the savings, though welcome, won’t erase the financial strain of living on a barrier island.

Ron Fleming, who has lived on Fort Myers Beach for more than a decade, said flood insurance is unavoidable for many residents.

“If you have a mortgage, you have to have flood insurance,” Fleming said. “Every little bit helps.”

Fleming’s home sits about 10 feet above the ground, yet it still flooded during Hurricane Ian, forcing him and his wife out of the house for nearly ten months. Like many neighbors, Fleming says the rebuilding process has been slow and costly, complicated by rising insurance rates and construction expenses.

“We were out of the house for months,” he said. “It’s not going to be a life-changing amount of money, but it’s substantial. It’s just the price of living on a barrier island.”

Residents say that flood insurance has shaped major life decisions, from whether to rebuild to whether to stay on the island in the long term. Some neighbors Fleming knows ultimately chose to leave, saying that repeated storms and financial pressure had become too much.

Despite that, many residents view the discount as a sign of progress.

“This community is coming back,” Nancy said. “Everything they’re doing now is beautiful. It’s never going to be the same as it was before, but we have to accept the changes.”

Homeowners say the biggest takeaway is not just the savings, but the sense that Fort Myers Beach is stabilizing after years of uncertainty. Still, they acknowledge that flood insurance will remain a high cost of living near the water.

“It’s good for the town, it’s good for businesses, and it’s good for residents,” Fleming said. “Hopefully we can keep moving forward, and hopefully the storms stay away.”