Last week, a meeting of Florida flooding policy managers was washed out in South Florida by a deluge of 26 inches of rain in just eight hours, unprecedented rainfall made far larger due to the climate change crisis that Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump consistently belittle. And it’s not even hurricane season yet. In fact, climate change causes extreme flooding year around since warmer air holds more water vapor, making storms produce additional “heavy precipitation events,” according to the U.S. National Climate Assessment.
With this year’s regular legislative session starting March 7, Associated Industries of Florida brought together lawmakers, lobbyists and representatives of business groups to discuss a series of ideas for reducing lawsuits and legal damages.
In July, insurance-company rater Demotech threatened the existence of many Fla. insurers. But in a rare bit of industry good news, Fla.’s back-up proposal was approved.
A day after getting hit with a financial-rating downgrade, United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. on Tuesday became the first Florida property insurer to take part in a stopgap state program aimed at maintaining coverage for homeowners.