Thousands of homes and businesses hit by high winds and water have amounted to nearly 70,000 Hurricane Michael insurance claims so far, according to Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation.

Most of those claims pertain to damaged residential property.

Bay County, which includes the hard-hit Mexico Beach area, has more than 2,500 structures that are damaged but still standing to a certain extent. At least 162 buildings, including homes, have been completely destroyed.

Some residents have returned to find only cement slabs where their homes once stood. Neighborhoods littered by piles of debris from obliterated homes make it difficult for some residents to even find the exact location where their homes were before the hurricane hit.

Hurricane Michael Insurance Claims Add Up

According to an article in the Tampa Bay Times, more than $40 billion in damage has been incurred in just more than a year as a result of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Michael.

Some residents fear their insurance rates will be unaffordable or that the insurance companies will go bankrupt. Fortunately, the insurance companies learned a lesson after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992 and caused $27 billion in damage. Many insurance companies left Florida completely, and the state had to institute its own Citizens Property Insurance.

The state-owned insurance had its biggest test when Hurricane Irma blasted through Florida, leaving behind $30 billion in damage. Experts believe the final cost of Hurricane Michael insurance claims could be as much as $12 billion in damages.

The Citizens Property Insurance was scheduled for a rate hike earlier this year, but lobbyists were able to convince the state to hold off until December. In this post-Hurricane Michael world, they are hoping to stall it even longer.

Jay Neal, president and CEO of the Florida Association for Insurance Reform, told the Tampa Bay Times, “Florida carriers are so well re-insured that it is highly unlikely a catastrophic event will cause a failure of an insurance company in Florida. Floridians that are insured should feel pretty good about the position they’re in.”

Fitch Ratings indicates nearly 60 percent of Florida’s homeowner’s policies are held by Florida companies. To keep on the Fitch Ratings list, the insurance companies must purchase re-insurance policies to help them withstand paying more than it would cost to cover a 50-year storm event and a 100-year storm event. These insurance companies that are well-insured themselves wouldn’t feel much of a financial impact unless one huge storm cost in the $50 billion range. Hurricane Michael insurance claims are estimated to cost $10 billion to $12 billion.

According to a Fitch Ratings press release, “The total cost to the state from 2017’s Hurricane Irma is estimated at approximately $600 million inclusive of the state’s share of county related costs (nearly $460 million) and net of anticipated FEMA reimbursements … The state has not disclosed a cost estimate associated with Hurricane Michael, which made landfall on the Florida Panhandle on October 10.”

Hurricane Michael insurance claims are anticipated to increase as residents and business owners return and survey the damage.