Inch of water in a home could cost $25,000 to fix. What if you don't have flood insurance?

Florida, flooding and hurricane season − is it too late to be insured?

That depends.

Florida typically sees the most hurricanes between August and October, which means the Atlantic hurricane season is at its peak. Hurricane Idalia recently rammed through Florida's Big Bend region, leaving hundreds of thousands of Floridians on the Gulf Coast without power and with flooded homes.

With recovery efforts for natural disaster victims around Florida's Gulf Coast still ongoing, all eyes are on the next storms that may rock the Sunshine State.

The next two weeks of hurricane season have historically been the most active. And this year, the peak of hurricane season is riding in on the heels of extremely high, record-breaking ocean temperatures off Florida's coast and an above-average August for tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin. August brought six named storms with it, well above the three to four storm average that Florida saw each August from 1991 to 2020.

Just before this year's hurricane season started, AAA released findings from its survey that asked Floridians how likely they are to evacuate their homes during a hurricane. More than half of the people surveyed said they won't go unless the storm is a Category 3 or higher.

About 20% of the Floridians surveyed said that they don't prepare in advance for hurricane season, and 24% said they simply wouldn't evacuate in the event of a hurricane or severe weather.

Almost 60% of those surveyed said that they feel safe because they aren't located in a flood zone, but the AAA survey found almost 40% of all flood insurance claims come from homes that aren't in high-risk flood zones.

Here's a roundup of how flood insurance works in Florida, when and where to find a policy and why a lot of Floridians ignore evacuation orders.

Is there a hurricane or tropical storm headed for Florida?

On Tuesday, Sept. 5, Tropical Depression 13 became a named storm: Tropical Storm Lee. The National Hurricane Center's official forecast has Lee intensifying at a break-neck speed, projected to become a Category 4 Hurricane by Saturday, Sept. 9.

Tropical Storm Lee was currently not on track to hit Florida, according to WeatherTiger meteorologist Dr. Ryan Truchelut.

"Elsewhere, befitting the peak of hurricane season, look for one or two more storms to develop through mid-September to the east of Lee. None of these will be any threat to land," Truchelut said in a USA TODAY article. "Overall, there are no tropical threats to Florida over the next 10 days, and hopefully that will continue into the second half of September so devastated Big Bend communities can start the long process of recovery."

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Why do some people ignore hurricane evacuation orders?

According to the survey, the most common reason Floridians ignore evacuation orders is to stay for any post-storm damage that they may be able to fix themselves once the storm passes.

• 40% said that they stay to take care of any fixable damage to their home.

• 30% said they don't have a safe way to evacuate with their pets.

• 22% stay because they believe the storm will turn off course and away from their direction.

• 18% don't know where to evacuate to.

• 17% fear post-storm looting.

• 15% can't afford to book a hotel.

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Does Florida have mandatory evacuation laws?

In almost every state, the governor has the power to take action ahead of or during a disaster, like a hurricane. In some states, like Florida, the governor can order mandatory evacuations. There is no evidence to support that anyone has ever been ticketed for ignoring evacuation orders in Florida, unlike North Carolina, where violating an evacuation order is a crime. Florida doesn't have any sort of criminal penalty for ignoring a mandatory evacuation order.

How many Floridians do not have flood insurance?

The AAA survey also reported that over 67% of Floridians do not have flood insurance. But in 2022, the National Flood Insurance Program validated more than 54,000 claims and dished out more than $1.6 billion in policy coverage. Hurricane Ian alone was responsible for 46,000 insurance claims and $1.5 billion in policy coverage.

What happens if my home floods and I don't have flood insurance?

Just one inch of water in your home could cost up to $25,000 or more to repair. What happens if you don't have flood insurance?

Homeowners who don't have flood insurance have the option to apply for federal disaster assistance through a loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. But unlike payouts from insurance claims, the federal disaster assistance loans have to be paid back.

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What happens if I get flood insurance and my home floods the next day?

The survey also revealed that 53% of the people surveyed were unaware that flood insurance policies issued through FEMA do not take immediate effect. FEMA manages the National Flood Insurance Program, which manages a network of more than 50 insurance companies, including AAA.

All flood insurance policies issued through FEMA's network of insurance companies have a 30-day waiting period before they take effect.

Flood insurance is sold separately from homeowners' hurricane wind insurance policies.

Can I get insured during hurricane season?

There are certain times when buying homeowners' insurance isn't possible in Florida. You can sometimes buy homeowners' insurance during hurricane season, but not always. When insurance companies issue a policy, they're hoping you won't have to file a claim. The likelier it is that you will file a claim for storm damages, the warier they are of issuing policies.

This is why most insurance companies don't sell homeowners' insurance 24 to 48 hours before a storm is anticipated to hit the state. Rules around when you can and can't buy homeowners' insurance vary depending on which insurance provider you buy from, but is usually difficult to acquire during hurricane season no matter who you insure with.

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hurricanes: How flood insurance works in Florida, when can you buy it