Your Florida Daily: 1 year after Hurricane Ian, Citizens Insurance rate hike

One year ago, Hurricane Ian swept across Florida.

Ian brought death and destruction to Fort Myers Beach and Lee County’s other barrier islands as storm surge as high as 15 feet was pushed onto land.

Nearly 150 deaths in total are attributed to Ian.

According to NOAA, the storm caused an estimated $112.9 billion worth of damage in the U.S., making it the third-costliest hurricane on record.

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Even after a year, recovery efforts are still ongoing in Southwest and Central Florida.

Listen to Your Florida Daily’s interview with Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson about the lessons learned from Hurricane Ian here.

There’s been a major development surrounding Florida’s property insurance market.

The state’s largest insurer, Citizens, is raising rates significantly across the board.

The average homeowner will see an 11.5% increase in their bills.

Citizens is designed to be the insurer of last resort but it saw a spike in policies when several companies pulled out of Florida.

The rate hike could send more homeowners back into the private insurance market.

Citizens also recently sent letters to 300,000 homeowners asking them to accept offers from private insurers.

The winner of last month’s $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the third-largest in U.S. history, has come forward to claim the prize in Florida, officials said Wednesday.

The winning ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, a town near Jacksonville.

Under a new Florida law, the winner’s name remains anonymous for 90 days from the date the prize was claimed, which was on Sept. 25, lottery officials said in an email. The lottery did not confirm whether the winner took the lump sum or the annuity and did not specify the estimated lump sum amount.

Random Florida Fact

Tallahassee is home to the largest magnetic research facility in the world.

A large sprawling building near the state capitol houses some of the most powerful magnets in the world along with the researchers who use them.

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory powers a world-record 45-tesla hybrid magnet generating a yearly electricity bill approaching eight million dollars, making the lab the largest user of power in the region.

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