Florida's Insurance Crisis Poised to Get Even Worse

Florida is being hit by widespread storm surge flooding that risks exacerbating the ongoing insurance crisis in the Sunshine State.

During the weekend, Florida was drenched by a late-year storm which dumped up to 5 inches of rain across the state, as reported by the Associated Press, flooding streets and wreaking havoc along its course.

Bryan Bennett, meteorologist at Cloud Nine Weather Services, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that a "storm surge flooding from non-tropical winter storms is rare in Florida." He added that "over the past 40+ years surge flooding has only occurred six times (per the long-time gauge in St. Petersburg)" before.

A large part of the state was placed under flood warnings by the National Weather Service (NWS) over the weekend, as the storm brought along strong winds and the increased risk of tornadoes. A flood warning will remain in place until Wednesday night near the Santa Fe River in northern Florida.

While the storm is expected to lose strength and continue moving north on Monday night, the risk of such extreme weather events is here to stay in Florida. The frequency of widespread storm surge flooding from non-tropical winter storms appears to have increased in recent years, with the three most recent cases happening in the past decade. The three prior occurred between 1985 and 2015.

Experts have foreseen that global warming will increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in states like Florida—meaning that major flooding is likely to happen more often in the state, with more serious consequences.

This, in turn, is likely to impact the ongoing insurance crisis in the Sunshine State. At least 15 major insurance providers have announced their intention to leave Florida over the past 18 months, with many citing concerns over the increased risks of violent weather events made worse and more frequent by global warming, which will lead to many more claims being made in the state in the near future.

Florida currently has the highest insurance premiums in the country, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple I). While insurance premiums have grown everywhere across the country, in Florida they have tripled in the past five years, with residents now paying on average more than $4,200 per year. The national average is $1,700, according to data from Triple I.

While the ongoing insurance crisis in the Sunshine State is partially due to other man-made factors—including a high number of litigations—the climate crisis is also playing a significant role in bringing up costs.

"The combination of climate change influence and exposure growth are both notable factors in the direct physical damage and broader societal impacts being experienced throughout all 50 states," Steve Bowen, chief science officer with Gallagher Re, previously told Newsweek.

According to Bowen, Florida and the entire country are going to undergo a "real fundamental shift" in the way we assess insurance risks and costs, "how we price, how we look at risk, and how we're investing from a mitigation and adaptation standpoint."