Florida is recovering from deadly Hurricane Milton after it swept through the state.
On the Treasure Coast, the storm killed several people after it spawned tornadoes in the area. Milton also prompted forecast offices across the state to issue a massive number of tornado warnings.
Florida Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Republican representing parts of Martin and St. Lucie counties, discussed rescue missions following Milton with Tom Hudson on The Florida Roundup.
“Well, to update you on that, we had urban search and rescue teams from afar as, from as far away as West Virginia and Ohio that were helping out with our various search and rescue, whether it was Martin, St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Okeechobee or Indian River,” Overdorf said. “To give you some idea, we have literally had hundreds of these individuals here. As of this morning, we have been able to release those teams and signed off to allow them to go elsewhere. The urban search and rescue is complete, and unfortunately we have confirmed that six individuals did pass away within St. Lucie County.”
He said all the individuals have been identified and were within the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Lakewood Park, near Fort Pierce.
In Martin County, Overdorf said there are over 600 structures damaged, 200 of which suffered catastrophic damage. St. Lucie County is still in the process of counting.
“There were from all accounts, 17 separate tornadic events in St. Lucie County, approximately seven to 10 in Martin County, and the National Weather Service is now working to identify the EF level associated with those tornadoes and figuring them out,” Overdorf said. “When I was in the emergency operations center yesterday, they had mapped out most of the confirmed paths within St. Lucie County, but were working on some others that were not confirmed.”
Overdorf added no one he knows had ever seen an event like this.
“Of course, I spoke with a variety of individuals that have been doing emergency management or things like this over 20-some-odd years, none of them have seen anything like this.”
“Of course, I spoke with a variety of individuals that have been doing emergency management or things like this over 20-some-odd years, none of them have seen anything like this.”Florida Rep. Toby Overdorf
Storms’ effect on insurance
Earlier this year, reports by two reinsurance brokers said Florida property insurers found better prices and availability when buying reinsurance coverage due to “relatively low catastrophe activity and improved results for both insurers and reinsurers.”
Overdorf said that, “as a result, we were in very good shape prior to the storm coming in and I think we will remain that way.”
On Thursday, Mike Yaworsky, commissioner for the Office of Insurance Regulation, said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times the insurance marketplace is “poised to weather the impacts of these storms effectively.”
It came a day after Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis issued an emergency rule requiring insurance claims adjusters to identify and explain any changes made to consumers’ damage estimates.
Patronis told Tom Hudson on The Florida Roundup the rule is meant to hold people accountable.
“So we want to say, you know what, we want to create a paper trail. Anybody who starts playing in the claims process, we want to have names and signatures on those to make sure that that the customer has full transparency, understanding what they're being represented to them …”
Patronis said his general counsel is looking into whether the rule is retroactive to people affected by Hurricane Helene, or if it only applies to Hurricane Milton victims or even storms going forward.
He also said he doesn’t think the rule will delay how much and how soon people get insurance checks.
With the state recovering from two major storms, Patronis said he doesn’t anticipate any insurance companies will be unable to pay claims.
“I think we're fortunate from a lot of ways that the damage from this storm could have been a lot worse. Now, where we are going to see some real trauma is St. Lucie County with the tornadoes. But again, that is not as widespread as what a hurricane can do, like an event that took place with Hurricane Ian,” Patronis said.
If you have repairs set for your home, here’s what the 2024 Florida Statutes say: “If the insurer elects to nonrenew a policy covering a property that has been damaged, the insurer shall provide at least 90 days’ notice to the insured that the insurer intends to nonrenew the policy 90 days after the dwelling or residential property has been repaired. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the insurer from canceling or nonrenewing the policy 90 days after the repairs are complete for the same reasons the insurer would otherwise have canceled or nonrenewed the policy …”
This story was compiled off interviews conducted by Tom Hudson for The Florida Roundup.
