What Financial Aid Is Available to Those Affected By Hurricane Ian?

President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in nine Florida counties on Thursday following Hurricane Ian's destructive rampage through the state.

For the large number of Floridians, the scale of the damage is severe, and the state is looking at billions of dollars' worth of repairs to infrastructure and public property in the coming months.

More than 2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida Wednesday overnight, as the storm disabled two major bridges, severed access along an interstate, and nearly razed the city of Fort Myers to the ground.

Jared Moskowitz, the former director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said that most of Fort Myers Beach will need to be completely rebuilt.

Congress is set to enact a funding bill at midnight on Friday, though the disaster relief funding is not only for Hurricane Ian.

The stopgap measure will provide billions of dollars in extra disaster assistance for states across the country and will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to spend through the Disaster Relief Fund.

This is expected to free up an additional $15 billion in aid for disaster relief.

But, for most, this funding won't be able to pay for the extensive damage done to millions of properties, vehicles, and personal belongings, even if they have home insurance.

This is because home insurance typically covers the cost of hurricane damage and usually does not provide financial protection against flooding.

This means for damage to roofing or windows, a majority of homes should be covered by their insurance, but if any flood water has damaged the structure of your home and you are without that insurance, you would not be able to make a claim for the cost to repair your property or replace your belongings.

While Floridians are more likely to have taken out protection against flood damage than the average American, only one in five has taken out flood insurance in the state, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

The low rate for flood insurance in Florida means it will likely take longer for communities to rebuild, and it will cost them more than they expect, experts said.

"These people, many of them believe that their homeowners' insurance policy will cover them," Nancy Watkins, principal and consulting actuary at Milliman, told the New York Times. "Or they might think that federal disaster aid is going to swoop in and make them whole."

But federal disaster assistance is often less generous than people assume, with some limited emergency assistance to those without insurance, such as paying for temporary housing or making basic repairs.

FEMA typically doesn't pay to rebuild homes, as aid is limited to less than $40,000 per household, reported the New York Times.

Biden issued a statement on Thursday approving federal disaster funds for nine Florida counties—Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota. He added that more counties affected Ian could be approved at a later time.

The decision allows access to federal grants for residents and business owners who need to secure temporary housing, repair homes, get low-cost loans for uninsured property losses and otherwise recover. Local governments and other groups to share the costs of debris removal.

Biden also spoke to the press on Thursday at FEMA headquarters in Washington, confirming the financial support available to those without insurance, or whose insurance may not be enough to cover the extensive damage.

He said: "Folks in Florida who have destroyed or damaged homes—if you don't have enough insurance, it means the federal government will provide individual assistance of [up to] $37,900 for home repairs, another $37,900 for lost property—everything from an automobile to a lost wedding ring. And that's what we mean by 'lost property,'"