The biggest difference between hurricanes Ian and Idalia? Where - and what - they hit (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Win McNamee/Getty Images Fort Myers Beach sustained severe damage by the Category 4 hurricane which caused extensive damage to the southwest portion of Florida. Major insurers have largely pulled out of Florida and smaller ones have gone bankrupt – leaving many homeowners with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation – the state’s insurer of last resort.Īnd while there are increasingly uninsurable places in all 50 states, experts view California, Florida and Louisiana as the three major hotspots where the pool of uninsured homeowners is growing – in part due to larger disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.įORT MYERS BEACH, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 02: In this aerial view, destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ian is shown on Octoin Fort Myers Beach, Florida. “If you look at the trajectory of climate risks we’re seeing, there’s going to be a lot more communities hitting that tipping point in the next 30 to 50 years.” “There are certainly some communities that have hit that tipping point” of relocating instead of rebuilding, said Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at the nonprofit research group First Street Foundation. “One of the major questions we have going forward is should we rebuild these areas and spend federal and state dollars to continue to rebuild areas that will be hit in the future,” Jesse Keenan, a professor of sustainable real estate at Tulane University’s School of Architecture, told CNN.įlorida is the site of the latest major hurricane, but experts CNN spoke to said the entire Gulf Coast is experiencing a perfect storm of climate impacts, like sea level rise and stronger storms fueled by warming waters, combined with a shrinking insurance pool in states like Florida and Louisiana. To make matters worse, many insurance companies are also pulling out of some Gulf states, leaving homeowners and businesses with more risk and fewer options to finance their recovery in a way that will leave buildings stronger and better able to withstand the next storm. As the ocean swallows shore, it makes the impacts of storm surge and flooding more dangerous for the communities in these low-lying areas. Human-caused climate change is wreaking havoc on the Gulf Coast, which is already experiencing some of the fastest sea level rise in the world. And it may not be the last Atlantic hurricane season hasn’t yet peaked, and the Gulf of Mexico has been historically warm – more energy to fuel more deadly storms.īut as the tireless work of rebuilding begins in places like hard-hit Pasco County, Idalia’s landfall renews the question of whether it’s appropriate to rebuild in some areas, experts told CNN, and where to do so. When Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida Wednesday morning, it became the eighth major hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast in the last six years.
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