Florida’s insurance exodus is triggering a 2008-style chain reaction — with one critical difference

While visiting family in St. Petersburg, Florida, in November 2024, I found myself walking down a quiet residential street in Shore Acres, a low-lying, bayfront neighborhood not far from where I grew up. Two months earlier, Hurricane Helene had sent several feet of water into homes here, even though the center of the storm had stayed far offshore. Just days after Helene, Milton made landfall nearby as a major hurricane, inflicting substantial wind damage. What I saw on that autumn morning was a scene of starkly unequal neighborhood recovery: Dozens of older homes, most built during the area’s postwar building boom, were in a state of shocking disrepair. Shattered drywall, warped kitchen cabinets, broken glass – entire interiors poured out into the street in piles, at times as high as I am tall. On the same street, I also saw pristine newer homes that looked untouched. Raised on posts far above their neighbors – in line with newer building codes – there was no sign that a major storm had recently clawed through the neighborhood. As the sound of buzz saws and hammers rang in my ears, I noticed “for sale” signs in front of many storm-damaged homes. Building back after a storm is a trying business, and it appeared some had called it quits. For over a decade I’ve been researching how property markets adapt to the changing financial realities of climate change in Florida, the Netherlands and beyond. On this street, I saw a community slowly unraveling as climate shocks – and the subsequent market responses to them – have reshaped the cost of living. These costs are driven by more than major disasters. Soaring property insurance rates are repricing life in the Sunshine State, and this is likely to worsen as hurricanes intensify in the coming years. But the current way we manage these risks and costs isn’t the only option. A tangible crisis In Shore Acres and elsewhere, the climate crisis becomes tangible when you receive your annual homeowners insurance bill. Sustained, yea