Florida CFO shares emotional story of retiree's insurance disaster in Milton aftermath: ‘Heartbroken’
Floridians are just starting to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Milton ripped through the state. But some residents are especially reeling from a lack of insurance protection.
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis joined "Fox & Friends" Friday with an on-the-ground perspective and told the story of a 70-year-old man – without insurance – whose home was devastated.
"[He] was heartbroken," Patronis told Fox News’ Steve Doocy. "He was probably about 70. He was living next to a woman who was in her 80s. And they became neighbors and he became her caregiver. He's right now actually living with her. Her house was untouched, his was destroyed."
"He had no insurance, primary income was Social Security. This was a gated retirement community… But unfortunately, you know, he told me... he started crying, he said, ‘Jimmy, this isn't your fault... these are my own bad decisions. I should have prepared better for this. It could have happened in my life later, and it has,’" the CFO explained.
HURRICANE MILTON RELIEF EFFORTS: THESE COMPANIES ARE HELPING AFFECTED COMMUNITIES
FOX Weather has confirmed 17 fatalities from Milton as of Friday morning, after the storm made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida, late Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane.
Power and other utilities continue to slowly be restored across Florida after Hurricane Milton’s less than 12-hour trek across the state, leaving behind more than 4 million without electricity at its peak and neighborhoods flooded.
Florida’s CFO claimed Friday that the individual he spoke to qualifies for Hope Florida’s travel trailer program. Hope Florida is a nonprofit organization that connects public and private sector services to support, find and provide resources for single parents, seniors, disabled individuals, veterans and others.
In addition to being provided a temporary travel trailer, the individual would also qualify for FEMA assistance, according to Patronis. FEMA said in a Thursday press release that it has activated 24-hour commodities, volunteer agencies and response asset operations in response to Milton, and that more than $344 million has already been distributed to victims of the former Hurricane Helene.
Patronis also spotlighted the importance of having homeowners insurance, even if your mortgage is paid off.
"We had a man-made problem we had to fix in Florida, and I told people, you got to give us 12 to 18 months to correct it," he explained. "The [insurance] rates in Florida are going down, but they're going down [by a] single digit, not double-digit. They're not going down fast enough for me. But when you have huge loss runs like you had with Hurricane Ian, unfortunately, that has a massive impact to the financials of these services."
The CFO also told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney earlier this week that if your home was damaged and its appraised value has decreased, you’ll see a "reprieve" on property taxes and insurance rates shouldn’t be raised.
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"So we did this after Hurricane Ian, where there will be a rebate system in place, but the individual has to apply before March 1 in order to get that rebate back. If your home is not as [valuable] as it was pre-storm, then you should be paying taxes on a home that was not harmed. So if your home was harmed, you will have a discount," he previously said.
"We have made Florida an attractive place to invest money again when it comes to the insurance market," Patronis added on Friday. "But it doesn't happen overnight. I'm still very bullish on Florida."
FOX Weather staff contributed to this report.