More than 70 percent of Florida homeowners pay to protect homes from climate threats: survey

Adam Barnes
·2 min read
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Story at a glance

  • A new survey from the real estate company Redfin found that 71 percent of Florida homeowners invest in defending their homes against climate disasters

  • Forty percent of Florida homeowners have spent money to fortify their homes against hurricanes and tropical storms.

  • The survey found that close to a third of U.S. homeowners have spent at least $5,000 to protect their homes.

Nearly three-quarters of Florida homeowners have spent money to protect their homes from climate threats, according to a new survey released weeks after one of the costliest storms in the state’s history.

The survey from the real estate company Redfin found that 71 percent of Florida homeowners invest in defending their homes against climate disasters, compared with 58 percent of American’s overall who do the same.

Forty percent of Florida homeowners have spent money to fortify their homes against hurricanes and tropical storms.

“Americans are shelling out cash to fortify their homes against natural disasters as they increasingly move to at-risk areas despite intensifying climate change. Unfortunately, their investments aren’t always enough—a reality that came into focus when Hurricane Ian destroyed scores of homes, many of which lacked flood insurance,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather, said in a statement.

“Homeowners should be aware that their property value could drop over time if their area becomes uninsurable and/or uninhabitable due to climate change,” Fairweather added.

Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Sept. 28, brought destructive storm surges that killed more than 100 people.

Ian became the latest of 15 storms among a growing list of billion-dollar weather and climate related disasters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The survey found that close to a third of U.S. homeowners have spent at least $5,000 to protect their homes, while around 42 percent have not invested in any additional defenses.

Homeowners nationwide are most likely to put their money toward protecting their homes from extreme heat, followed by extreme cold and flooding.

The most common insurance against potential climate risks was flood insurance, while close to 29 percent of those surveyed said they had hurricane insurance.

The Treasury Department announced last week that it is seeking to gather information from insurance providers about whether climate change will impact both availability and affordability of insurance policies.

“The recent impacts in Florida from Hurricane Ian demonstrate the critical nature of this work and the need for an increased understanding of insurance market vulnerabilities in the United States,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

The data collection would “add to the work of regulators and policymakers across the Administration to assess climate-related risks to the financial system, the U.S. economy, and the American people,” Yellen said.

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