46 Comments

Unfortunately I am a Floridian for the past 42 years. The place is warm, beautiful ripe for grifters. Lately newcomers to Florida are mostly right wingers from the northeast and midwest. They love DeSantis. They think he kept Florida "free" during covid. They are misinformed and angry and they will ensure DeSatan gets another term. I'm old now and I no longer own a house, so I'll probably live out my days in the warmth, but if I were younger......

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Dear Ron: climate change isn't woke. It just is.

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I am a painter and spoke to an artist friend recently about gathering other artists together to do an exhibit on Climate Change with the proceeds of the event benefiting a group involved with helping this issue. (Did not mention any specific group) This person, who is a fellow artist and nature lover said to me: “I don’t like political art”. I said, “This is about Climate Change, not politics.” (Cricket- cricket sounds here)

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Tragic reality of our current politics. Saying climate change is political is akin to saying gravity is political. I hope you still go through with your exhibit. Good luck.

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Thank you for this catalog of DeSantis disasters. One can only hope that Floridians are paying attention.

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This type of reporting is what is missing in this world

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"Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."

Some good neighbor you are, State Farm. Sheesh.

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The DeSantis 'believers' continue to drink his kool-aid. I'm so sorry to read about this--looking at the pictures of destruction and the people walking around in a daze, it is just so sad. But they elected this guy. Poor Florida, I have wondered if it was just getting redder and redder... it seems like it is, and it's getting wetter and wetter too. But hey--that's "just weather"--and I'd bet $$ that the locals have no clue about the state's insurance issues.

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I’ve lived and voted in Florida, for 35 years. Anyone who owns property here is well aware of the insurance issues. Florida has indeed gotten redder over time but not with my vote.

Thanks again to Judd et al for exposing DeSantis as a pawn of his donors so he can pursue his political ambitions.

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Pretty depressing, but the truth usually is these days.

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We'll wave with our left hands as the ocean swallows Florida. Thanks Judd for this sobering report.

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“Left wing things”? Glad he thinks so much of liberals to acknowledge we might not be so eager to sell out the state’s vulnerable homeowners to Big Insurance. Or that we might have the foresight to make geographical adjustments in some areas so developers and potential homeowners aren’t stuck with property unfit to build on in the first place. That we might take ‘global warning’ seriously enough to consider all these things and more because we consider public safety to be one of government’s highest priorities. Also we believe in reality and history and strive to learn from it. Unlike this troglodyte.

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Great information! How much longer will the people of Florida support this self-serving serpent DeSatan?

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Wow! Forwarding to ALL my Florida relatives. There is No way that the average Floridian will be able to adjust their budgets to cover this disaster or any future disasters with DeSantis and StateFarm against them. Well done reporting!

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My wild guess here is that Florida is only one of many coastal areas with the same problem of unaffordable insurance, but that doesn't seem to bother the wealthy folks who own waterfront property. I seem to recall seeing several articles covering the Outer Banks and the houses that literally floated away in a storm, and that properties there are still selling for top dollar.

Until global warming is taken seriously, profiteering by entities such as State Farm and grifters like DeSantis will increase. Thank you, Judd, for exposing the situation in Florida. Let's also not forget how loudly DeSantis protested against federal disaster aid being paid out to other states in recent months. He's probably got a scam in place already, to siphon off FEMA aid meant for Floridians whose homes were destroyed by Ian.

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When Floridians are voting this November will they know about this insurance mess? Will Democrats be able to inform them about DeSantis' negligence in taking care of their welfare?

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Does this problem with Insurance in Florida mean DeSantis will apply for a federal bailout? I hope not. I’d be very unhappy to see my taxes go to Florida to pay for Florida State leadership’s poor planning.

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The federal government will provide disaster relief as they have for previous disasters. This is part of the role of a federal government.

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And you are correct. It’s a shame though that State Governments which can be so helpful to supporting those who live in the State can also become a cudgel for an ambitious and uncaring person.

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Judd another great article. Hopefully,

someone will be keeping a very close

eye on all the Federal funds that flow

into the state of Florida and that the

people, so devastated by Ian, are the

ones who benefit. DeSantis has a

way of using Federal emergency money

for his own projects. Like that 12 million

he's using to transport asylm migrants

by plane, all over the country. Reportedly,

that money is part of the billions Florida

received in Covid relief funds.

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Ultimately, insurance has to be expensive enough to rebuild homes every few decades. It’s still too cheap. For barrier islands, it may be cost prohibitive. That’s okay, some places are meant to be visited by day, with only wildlife calling it home.

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