Florida’s wind-mitigation grant program for homeowners has proven to be so popular that the governor has proposed another $107 million for it this year, and some experts have called home fortification the only way to significantly reduce insurance losses from hurricanes.
Comes now another mitigation proposal, this one to elevate homes and make them safer from flooding and storm surge, two growing threats in Florida as climate change escalates and storms intensify.
Senate Bill 1208 and House Bill 1143, filed last week, would expand the My Safe Florida Home mitigation program by more than $200 million and would provide matching grants up to $10,000, similar to the wind-protection grants that result in insurance premium discounts.
Eligible homes would have to have been built before 1982; lie in the 100-year floodplain as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; carry flood insurance; and have an insured value of less than $700,000. The funds could be used for elevating the structure or providing floodproofing measures, including water barriers, backflow valves and flood vents.
The Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Jonathan Martin, a Republican from Lee County, where thousands of homes where damaged or destroyed by flooding and storm surge from Hurricane Ian in 2022. The House bill is sponsored by Rep. Lindsay Cross, a Democrat and environmental scientist from St. Petersburg.
Both bills would require the Florida Department of Financial Services to contract with trained home inspectors to certify that homes meet eligibility requirements, and to recommend improvements.
“The home inspector must be a certified floodplain manager who has completed at least 3 hours of flood mitigation training,” HB 1143 reads.
SB 1208, seen here, and HB 1143 have not yet been assigned to committees and have not yet been analyzed by legislative staff. The Legislature’s 2024 regular session begins Tuesday in Tallahassee.
It’s unclear at this point how much support the bills may receive. But insurance authorities and a former state senator have argued that beefed-up mitigation programs are key to Florida’s future and billions more in funding are needed. Although newer homes in Florida built in flood and coastal areas must be elevated to minimize water damage, millions of other homes are older and lie in vulnerable locales.
Flood insurance losses from Hurricane Ian have topped $4 billion, FEMA has reported.
A $10,000 grant may not cover much of the cost raising a home above the expected flood level. Forbes magazine reported last week that the average cost of elevating a home in the United States is about $28,000. Other reports have pegged the cost as high as $100,000.
Top photo: A Fort Myers Beach home in the process of being elevated, a year after Hurricane Ian slammed the area. (Phelan M. Ebenhack via AP)
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