Around a quarter of Florida homeowners favor staying put during hurricanes

When it comes to evacuating their homes in the face of an impending hurricane, around a quarter of Floridians said they ignore evacuation warnings, according to a survey from AAA, which also found 1 in 5 Florida residents make no preparations ahead of hurricane seasons.

More than half of Florida respondents said it would take a Category 3 storm or stronger for them to heed evacuation warnings, according to AAA.

In comparison, 16% of respondents in Georgia said they wouldn’t heed hurricane warnings, while around 20% of policyholders in North and South Carolina said the same.

Wanting to be at the property to fix damage is the top reason people choose to stick around when hurricanes and heavy storms approach. Not having an option for pets, believing the storm will miss them having no place to go and fear of looting round out the top five reasons why people choose to stay, according to the AAA survey, which was conducted in April 2023.

In addition, the AAA survey found that 67% of Floridians don’t have flood insurance. Most, 57%, said they don’t carry flood coverage because they aren’t in a flood zone, while 34% said pointed to never having a flood as the reason they don’t carry flood coverage.

“Even if your property is not considered ‘high risk’, remember that flooding can happen anywhere in Florida. All it takes is the right amount of rainfall to put your property in peril,” Jennifer Pintacuda, president of AAA’s Florida-based insurance companies, said in a release. “During the past year, Floridians who were living far away from the coast experienced severe flooding. Storms can be unpredictable. Hurricanes can stall overhead. That’s why we encourage all Floridians to consider a flood insurance policy. But act now. If you wait until a storm forms, it could be too late.”

Despite already facing flooding this year, around half of Florida policyholders said they aren’t considering flooding insurance.

However, flood insurance coverage had higher penetration in Florida than in the other states surveyed. For example, 82% of policyholders in North Carolina and 75% of policyholders in South Carolina and 78% of Georgia policyholders go without flood insurance, according to AAA. Across all states surveyed, most people that don’t have flood insurance said it is because they aren’t in a flood zone.

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