Congressional Republicans’ Failure to Fix National Flood Insurance Program Left More Floridians Unprotected and Footing the Bill for Storm Damage
WASHINGTON, DC – Florida Panhandle families are digging out after Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin as a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds on Friday, leaving more than 420,000 Florida customers without power. At least four people across the Southeast lost their lives and the storm triggered several flash flood emergencies. AccuWeather estimates between $16 billion to $20 billion in total damage and economic loss from the storm.
Climate-driven flooding from severe storms and surges largely fall under the national flood insurance program, not private homeowners policies, if homeowners have coverage, which is a keen reminder that Florida Representative Byron Donalds (FL-19) and his Republican colleagues have repeatedly failed to fix the program to help protect at-risk and impacted homeowners.
Isaias is the first real test of Florida’s faltering home insurance market since Hurricane Milton, which left many homeowners rebuilding on their own after total damage far outran insured losses. After being emboldened by the 2022 tort reform effort, more than 114,000 of roughly 300,000 claims were closed without payment in the wake of Hurricane Milton, because of policies that didn’t cover flooding damage. Florida families already pay the highest premiums in the nation, an average of $8,486 a year, after premiums rose 75% between 2021 and 2025, nearly double the national average. With flood coverage excluded from standard private home insurance policies and averaging about $894 a year on top of that, many Floridians simply cannot afford flood insurance or wrongly believe they already have it.
“Hurricane Isaias is another painful reminder that Florida families are one storm away from financial ruin, and Byron Donalds and congressional Republicans have done nothing to change that. Republicans control Congress, yet they’ve kept the National Flood Insurance Program on life support with one short-term patch after another while failing to provide homeowners the protection and relief that they need,” said Jayson O’Neill, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future. “Donalds’ own flood insurance bill couldn’t find a single co-sponsor or a hearing, and he voted to cut the FEMA and NOAA funding Floridians rely on before, during, and after hurricanes. He has spent his time in Washington protecting the very home insurance industry that funds his campaigns, not the families paying the highest premiums in America and still getting left with the bill. Floridians don’t need more stopgaps and empty promises from the politicians who created this mess.”
A recent Government Accountability Office analysis released this month found that 86% of high-risk properties nationwide have no flood insurance, and only 4% of all properties carry coverage. FEMA’s floodplain maps miss roughly 13 million high-risk properties, so many homeowners are never required to buy coverage. Families who count on federal disaster aid instead are badly exposed: FEMA assistance has averaged about $3,500 per homeowner over the last decade, compared with $88,700 in average NFIP claim payments. GAO identified four fixes that would expand coverage. Every one requires action from Congress. Instead, Rep. Donalds and congressional Republicans have kept the program limping along with short-term extension after extension. The latest stopgap expires December 11, 2026.
Rep. Byron Donalds (FL-19), now the Republican nominee for governor, has had years in Congress to fix the federal flood insurance program and to help provide relief for homeowners, but has nothing to show for it. His national flood insurance bill failed to attract a single co-sponsor or receive a hearing. He voted for a March 2025 spending package that cut FEMA’s budget by nearly $300 million, and he backed legislation that slashed NOAA weather forecasting used to track storms like Isaias. Meanwhile, he has taken more than $108,000 from property and casualty insurers, brokers, and agents over his political career.
Donalds hasn’t publicly objected to the Republican passed 2022 “tort reform” laws that stripped Floridians of the right to hold insurers accountable. A new Center for Justice & Democracy backgrounder shows those laws gave insurers more power without delivering relief. In 2024, two in five Florida homeowner claims resulted in no payment at all, the highest rate in the nation. A statewide survey of homeowners found 55% see no improvement in the market and nearly three in four saw premiums rise in the past year. Isaias survivors facing wind-versus-water claim disputes now have fewer tools to fight back.
Voters are paying attention. The New York Times reports that home insurance premiums have climbed 46% since 2021, nearly triple the rate of inflation, and that rising rates driven by climate-fueled disasters have helped put Florida onto the midterm battlefield. Voters also reject the industry’s excuses: only 3% blame “frivolous lawsuits” for rising costs, while 84% support a right to sue insurers that deny, delay, or underpay claims. In Florida, the pressure cuts across party lines. A University of North Florida survey found 63% of insured homeowners are more worried about insurance costs than property taxes, including 57% of Republicans.
Unlocking America’s Future has documented Florida’s home insurance crisis extensively, including an April 2026 report on the state’s congressional Republicans failing to act, and a comprehensive fact sheet on Florida’s home insurance crisis with common-sense solutions to lower costs and risks for policyholders.
Email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com to set up interviews with ratings, legal, advocacy, and insurance experts.
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