As Lee residents face 25% flood insurance increase, county tries to shift blame

Lee County officials, despite FEMA letters, say they were blindsided by rating downgrade.

By Louis Llovio
| 5:45 p.m. April 1, 2024
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Florida has higher insurance rates than most states partially because of wind-related storms, like Hurricane Ian that hit the Fort Myers area in September 2022.

Charlotte–Lee–Collier

Lee County residents will see their flood insurance rates rise about 25% after the Federal Emergency Management Agency says the county and several of its cities failed to meet some requirements needed to qualify for a rate discount following Hurricane Ian.

Lee County officials, in emailed statements and news releases, pushed back at the hike — coming at a time when the property insurance market in Florida is already one of the more confusing, and costliest, in the country.

When contacted with specific questions about discrepancies between the county's assertions and FEMAs, a Lee County spokesperson wrote in an email Monday evening, "We fulfilled requests by deadlines with the information available to the county."