As the Atlantic Ocean shows signs of heating up, potentially fueling damaging hurricanes, a former state and national disaster chief warned Tuesday of working-class Floridians being priced out of communities in post-storm rebuilding.
Craig Fugate, a disaster-planning consultant who previously served as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management and administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said financing and the availability of insurance will continue to be issues for some people trying to rebuild.
“I don't think it's going to slow down rebuilding, because it's not really slowing things down in Fort Myers,” Fugate said, referring to rebuilding after Hurricane Ian slammed into Lee County in 2022. “What it's doing is causing an affordable housing crisis ... people like police officers, school teachers, administrators, they're being priced out of your communities because they can’t either afford the cost of rebuilding, and if they can, they can't afford the cost of insuring if they have to get a mortgage.”
Fugate, who spoke Tuesday to the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee, served as director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management from 2001 to 2009, including during the devastating 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. He then served nearly eight years as FEMA administrator.
Fugate became known for the Waffle House Index, an unofficial metric named after the restaurant chain. It gauged the severity of storms by whether Waffle House restaurants were open and what was available on menus. While it started in Florida, the index drew more national attention when Fugate and FEMA responded to a deadly tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, in 2011.
During his speech Tuesday, Fugate credited Florida officials for taking steps to address rising sea levels, despite controversial legislation this year that removed the phrase “climate change” from parts of laws.
“They're actually one of the more progressive states in dealing with the impacts of climate change,” Fugate said. “If you look at the insurance ratings for building codes, Florida's No. 1 or No. 2 every time. So, there's this tendency, I think, to get caught up between what are called rhetoric and actions. And the rhetoric sometimes doesn't always match what you're doing.”
Fugate said Florida has been forward-looking, noting the state’s Citizens Property Insurance is phasing in a flood insurance requirement for policyholders, a lesson learned after Ian caused massive flooding.
“They're actually taking very smart, appropriate steps to address the issue of changing climate events,” Fugate said.
Fugate’s appearance came as the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday advised people in the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, and the southeastern U.S. to keep an eye on the progress of a storm system moving in the Atlantic.
While it had not forecast rapid intensification, the hurricane center put Florida in the potential path of the system.
Dry air over the system on Tuesday was limiting rain, but conditions could lead to development of a tropical depression this weekend over warm Atlantic waters. The chance of formation over the next week was 60 percent on Wednesday morning.
