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FL Officials Estimate Billions In Insured Losses From Hurricane Michael

Satellite picture of Hurricane Michael via NASA Earth Observatory

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — State officials are estimating that Floridians had more than $4.2 billion in insured losses from Hurricane Michael.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said that as of last week, insurers had handled more than 131,000 claims in Florida, about two-thirds of them involving residential properties.

More than half have been paid, and about a third are still open. About 10 percent were closed without being paid.

By far the largest number of claims, more than 79,000, came from Bay County, where the Category 4 hurricane came ashore in October.

After a brief stint as Morning Edition Producer at The Public’s Radio in Rhode Island, Talia Blake returned to Central Florida Public Media. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida with degrees in both Broadcast Journalism and Psychology. While at UCF, she was an intern for Central Florida’s public affairs show, Intersection. She joined on as Morning Edition Host in 2019. In 2022, Ms. Blake was appointed to the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalist’s board of directors.