Hurricane Milton has Florida homeowners and the insurance market bracing for impact

foxbusiness.com:

Cedar Key, Florida resident Michael Presley Bobbitt tells Stuart Varney about the on-the-ground experience in his area following Hurricane Helenes devastation and how the federal response has been.

Another hurricane is barreling toward Florida, putting residents and the state's already battered property insurance industry on edge.

Hurricane Milton has hit the Category 5 stage and is projected to hit the Sunshine State on Wednesday, which would make it the second major storm to hit Florida in less than two weeks as the Southeast continues to reel from the destruction of deadly Hurricane Helene.

Alerts for Hurricane Milton in Florida (FOX Weather / Fox News Weather)

The threat of another storm could not come at a worse time for weary homeowners whose rates have been surging across the U.S. for years. But real estate broker Ryan Serhant, the founder and CEO of SERHANT, recently told FOX Business that Florida is in a home insurance crisis.

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Residents of Florida, the most hurricane-prone state in the nation, paid an average of $10,996 in annual homeowners' insurance premiums last year, and Insurify projects their rates will jump by 7% to an average of $11,759 by the end of 2024.

A Roy's Restaurant worker searches through the rubble of the demolished business after Hurricane Helene landed in Steinhatchee, Fla. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)

But even for those who can afford the rising rates, Florida homeowners are seeing their coverage dropped and left scrambling after at least seven insurers have been declared insolvent in Florida since early 2022. 

As of this time last year, roughly 15%