You know, when you sent over these articles on Florida,
the hurricane situation and the whole insurance thing,
I thought, okay, this is gonna be interesting,
but I figured it was mostly about wind damage,
water damage, you know, the usual stuff.
Right, the kind of thing you'd expect
in a hurricane prone state.
Exactly, but the more I got into these articles
of the deeper I went, it's like, whoa,
this is a way bigger deal than I initially thought.
It really is.
You're talking about a whole system on the verge of,
I don't know, almost like unraveling.
It's climate change, it's the economy,
and honestly, it's about the future of Florida.
No, absolutely, and the Guardian article,
they do a fantastic job of kind of setting the scene, right?
They talk about people in Tampa cleaning up
after Hurricane Helene and the picture they paint,
it's just, man, piles of furniture,
appliances, just trash lining the streets.
Like this giant yard sale,
but nobody's buying because it's all ruined.
Yeah, and it makes you realize
the human cost of these storms,
which can get lost in the numbers sometimes.
And it's not just Helene, right?
We had Milton right on its heels,
two major hurricanes, boom, boom, just like that.
One, two punch, almost unheard of in such a short span.
And that brings us to some of those numbers,
because one that really stuck with me was from Newsweek.
Citizens' Property Insurance,
they're like the insurer of last resort down there, right?
Essentially, yeah, when nobody else will cover you,
citizens has to step in.
Right, so they've seen their policies triple, triple,
in just the last five years, that's gotta be
some kind of record.
What's going on there?
Well, I think it's a sign of a system under extreme stress.
Private insurers are pulling out of Florida,
and when they do, homeowners get pushed toward citizens.
Newsweek says they're at 1.25 million policies now.
Wow, and that's after they already shifted
a bunch of policies back to private insurers, right?
That's right, they try to offload some,
but the growth is still incredible.
No wonder everyone's saying it's a crisis.
And Raiders, they pointed out that Florida has 78
of the 80 riskiest areas for insurers in the whole US.
I mean, come on, 78 out of 80.
It's almost like the entire state
is a giant red flag for them.
It's those hurricanes, the rising sea levels,
all adding up.
And ultimately, who pays for all that risk,
the people who live there?
Homeowners.
Raiders says they've got the highest insurance costs
in the country, over $4,000 per year, on average.
Think about that, it's like having a second mortgage
just for insurance.
It's crazy, and even if you can afford those premiums,
finding someone to actually insure you
is a whole other battle.
The CNN article, they had this story
about a homeowner, Bobby Atwood.
It really shows how crazy things have gotten.
Yeah, poor Bobby.
What happened to him?
So his property value went up,
which you'd think would be a good thing, right?
Sure, normally, yeah.
But his insurance company, they dropped him,
said his house was too valuable, too risky to insure.
You've got to be kidding me.
So he's doing everything right,
taking care of his place, and they just drop him.
That's the situation, yeah.
He ended up having to go with citizens,
like a lot of people are finding themselves doing.
So wait, let me get this straight.
You've got homeowners, they're already dealing
with these insane insurance premiums
if they can even get coverage at all.
And if they end up with citizens,
while they're relying on a system
that seems like it's barely holding on itself.
It's a precarious situation, no doubt.
And we haven't even touched on flood insurance yet.
Oh, right, because that's a whole other can of worms,
especially in Florida.
Exactly, and most standard homeowner policies,
they don't cover flooding from hurricanes.
It's crazy to me how many people don't realize that.
It's a separate policy altogether.
And what's scary is just how many people in Florida
are completely exposed because they don't have it.
Do they have any idea of those numbers?
The Guardian, they said only about one third
of the homes in flood zones down there
actually have flood insurance.
One third, you're kidding.
That's like, what are they thinking?
It really comes down to cost in a lot of cases.
The Guardian article, they had this homeowner,
they interviewed Steve Mastrow.
He's got a decent rate
through the National Flood Insurance Program.
That's the government one, right, the N-Fit.
Right, so that's more affordable for some.
But his concern was for younger homeowners especially.
They're getting hit with these crazy premiums
from the private insurers.
So they just can't afford it,
even though they probably need it the most.
Exactly, it's this terrible cycle,
the climate's changing, the risks are getting worse,
insurance becomes unaffordable,
and then people are left even more vulnerable
when these storms hit.
And it's not just a coastal thing anymore either.
Hurricane Helene, that proved it.
Wired had that piece about the flooding inland
all the way up in North Carolina.
Absolutely, I mean Helene, that was a wake-up call.
We tend to focus on the coastlines,
but those inland areas are at risk too.
Which I guess brings us to the elephant in the room,
the hurricane in the room, climate change.
We can't talk about all of this
without talking about that, right?
No, not at all.
It's the driving force behind all of this.
These hurricanes, Helene, Milton,
they're getting stronger, they're less predictable.
And that makes it really hard for these insurance companies.
Because how do you even begin to assess risk
when the climate's changing so fast?
It's like trying to predict the stock market.
Exactly, they're relying on past data,
but the rules of the game have changed.
So, back to citizens for a second.
They're the safety net,
but it sounds like they're struggling to keep up.
They are.
The CNN article, they got into the whole thing
about how citizens can actually issue surcharges.
Like extra fees on top of everything else,
who has to pay those?
Well, they're policy holders for starters.
But here's the thing, if that's not enough
to cover their costs, they can actually start
adding surcharges to other insurance policies in the state.
Wait, hold on.
So even if I don't have my insurance through citizens,
I could still get hit with a surcharge
because they're underwater.
That's the way it's set up, yeah.
It's definitely raising some eyebrows.
So you're telling me I could be doing everything right.
I've got my insurance, not even through citizens,
and I could still get stuck with a surcharge
because they're in trouble.
It's a possibility, yeah.
And that's why Senator Whitehouse,
he's gotten involved according to that CNN piece.
He wants to know if citizens can even handle
a really bad hurricane season,
or if we're looking at a federal bailout down the road.
Man, it's like the whole thing is one bad storm
away from falling apart.
I mean, some people are saying, no, the reforms,
they're working, the market's stabilizing,
but then you've got others who are like,
this is unsustainable, the costs are gonna keep going up,
insurers are gonna bail, and citizens is gonna go belly up.
It's definitely a mixed bag out there.
Reuters, they talk to some experts who say,
yeah, prices are gonna keep rising,
and the market's gonna be shaky for a while,
but then there are others who say, Florida's Florida,
people love it there, they're still moving in, it's fine.
It's wild, isn't it?
Climate change, insurance costs through the roof,
insurers jumping ship, and at the same time,
more and more people moving to Florida.
It's like a recipe for disaster.
It really makes you wonder, is Florida,
especially the coast, is it becoming uninsurable?
Unlivable even.
We've talked about the homeowners, the cost of insurance,
but what happens if you can't get insurance?
Can you even get a mortgage then?
It's a huge question, what happens to those communities,
those neighborhoods, do people just start leaving?
I mean, Florida is beautiful,
but if you can't afford to live there,
if you don't have that basic security, then what?
It makes you wonder about the future.
It does, and I think this whole insurance crisis,
it's really a symptom of something much bigger.
It's about climate change, sure,
but it's also about how we adapt, who bears the cost,
and how we build a future that's sustainable for everyone.
And that's what I love about these deep dives, you know?
We start with a few articles,
and suddenly we're talking about the really big questions,
the existential stuff.
It's about connecting the dots, right?
Rising sea levels, insurance premiums,
climate change, it's all connected.
It is, and on that note,
I think we'll leave our listeners with this.
As the climate changes, the risks get bigger,
and who adapts, and how, that's the challenge.
How do we make sure everyone has a fair shot in the future,
no matter what happens?
Something to think about.
Absolutely.
Until next time, keep asking those tough questions,
keep digging for answers,
and thanks for joining us for another Deep Dive.