I am an insurance agent in Tampa Bay. Hurricanes Helene and Milton taught me that

What a two weeks to be an insurance agent in the Tampa Bay area. We all understand the danger of hurricanes, but when storms hit our community twice in 13 days, it takes a mental toll. As agents, we also learn what worked and what didn’t work with Florida insurance. I want to reflect on what we have seen to prepare for the next storm.

Unfortunately, Hurricane Helene brought unprecedented flooding – and two types of insurance claims. The first came from insured property owners who lived in unelevated homes typically built before 1975. The Federal Emergency Management Agency initiated its flood maps for Pinellas County after 1975, so most buildings constructed after 1975 should meet at least basic flood map requirements.

Many unelevated homes experienced devastating flooding, often with 3 to 4 feet of water. The owners often lost their personal belongings, family memories and an apartment. These are difficult claims because the National Flood Insurance Program’s maximum coverage for repairing or rebuilding a home is $250,000. In today’s inflationary environment, that doesn’t cover much. Additionally, the national flood program does not cover loss of use of the home, which would allow owners to live elsewhere while their homes are repaired. The shortage represents an enormous financial burden for these families.

The second type of claim involved construction post-1975, where homes typically have a garage on the ground floor and living areas on the second and third floors. We saw almost no significant damage in these houses. Damage typically included swimming pools, landscaping and items in the garage. Although these items are not typically covered by flood insurance, owners were often able to move back into their homes within hours of the storm.

I believe the high winds in Milton highlighted the importance of the Florida Building Code. From what we saw, homes with new roofs, hurricane windows or shutters, and brackets that attach roofs to walls suffered little damage. The greatest damage was caused by fallen trees in the yards. The eye of the storm passed about a mile past my cousin’s relatively new house in Parrish in northern Manatee County. Two hours after the storm, you wouldn’t have known a hurricane had just hit your property, other than a broken vinyl fence. On the other hand, Milton significantly compromised the older, non-conforming construction, including tearing off roofs.

Milton also caused flooding in areas considered non-flood plains, sometimes 50 feet above sea level. The flooding has reinforced the reality that every home is in a flood zone and every homeowner should consider purchasing flood insurance.

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My insights as an agent, which may not be popular with everyone:

1. Work to raise flood waters — We need to find more sensible solutions to promote the upgrading of houses. We must strictly enforce the 50% rule, which states that if the cost of repairs equals or exceeds 50% of the depreciated market value of a structure (excluding land value), it is considered “significantly damaged” and must be rebuilt in accordance with the latest regulations, which is often the case means elevating. We should not allow external valuations to inflate home values ​​and manipulate these rules. As painful as this may be for many, the resilience that proper reconstruction provides is well worth it.

2. The Florida Building Code works — Compliance with regulations in homes will limit the damage. We need to do more of this. My Safe Florida Home, which helps homeowners protect their homes against storms, is a great program that should be expanded.

3. Flood insurance — We should encourage more people with properties in flood zones B, C and X to purchase flood insurance. Lenders are not permitted to place non-mandatory flood insurance payments into an escrow account, forcing property owners to pay the entire cost upfront rather than spreading payments out throughout the year. If this requirement were changed, more people would purchase flood insurance.

I encourage our state and federal leaders to find more ways to strengthen our building codes and develop programs that allow more homeowners to elevate their homes and add features like hurricane clips and shutters. Our managers should reduce the bureaucratic burden. These steps will help create a resilient and strong Florida.

Jake Holehouse is president of HH Insurance, based in St. Petersburg.