Hurricane Milton Shows the Power and Cost of Climate Change

By the time Hurricane Milton touched down in Florida during the early hours of October 10, it was clear that it would be no ordinary storm. Power outages, high winds and tornados, heavy rainfall and flooding. 

“This is going to be a long haul for total rebuilding,” said President Biden. “It’s going to take several billion dollars. It’s not just going to be a little bit.”

Milton comes on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which visited its own disaster on Asheville, NC in September. Despite the fact that Asheville is more than 300 miles inland from the coast and sits more than 2,000 feet above sea level, residents there were not spared from heavy flooding after some parts received more than 30 inches of rain over three days.

Less than 3% of North Carolina’s 4.3 million properties have flood insurance, according to an analysis from Neptune Flood Insurance (via Fast Company). And only 4% of all U.S. homeowners currently have flood insurance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the National Flood Insurance Program.

Milton and Helene illustrate that the scale, scope, and reach of extreme weather is in flux. And though climate change remains a complicated, collective problem, there are some practical steps homeowners can take to prepare.

While we keep the people of Florida and other affected areas in our thoughts, storms like these should also serve as an urgent reminder for homeowners to revisit their insurance policy options to understand the type of financial protection it affords. 

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