Florida continues to recover from Hurricane Irma, with roof repairs still under way in places and many insurance claims still in process. But Floridians need to brace themselves for more potential hurricane headaches.
Researchers at Colorado State University are expecting an active Atlantic hurricane season in 2018. They predict 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. According to the Tampa Bay Times:
An active season does not mean that any particular location will get hit, but it raises the chances. Florida has suffered direct hits from hurricanes two years in a row, and another strong season would suggest the Atlantic Ocean remains in a period of hyperactivity.
The prediction of an active season comes as Floridians continue to work their way through cleanup and repairs, including major roof repairs, as a result of Irma. According to the Palm Beach Post:
A month and a half from the next hurricane season, fewer than 57 percent of more than 942,000 Hurricane Irma insurance claims worth $8.6 billionhave been closed with insurance payments, state records show — leaving folks like condo owner Martha Zuniga in Palm Beach Gardens with a roof she says needs fixing and a “horrible” feeling.
Now industry officials acknowledge it is possible they underpaid on tens of thousands of claims they declared closed after the September hurricane.
Florida’s second-largest insurer, state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., said it has reopened more than one in three of its Irma claims, or more than 24,000, to review them as more information becomes available.
And now it’s time to cast a weather eye on the coming hurricane season. From the Palm Beach Post:
But the books on 2017’s biggest storm remain far from closed even as the next threats await, as Farach paints the picture: “Many South Floridians whose homes and other property were damaged are still waiting to get paid by insurers while the 2018 hurricane season looms on the horizon.”