By Peter Roos
Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita and unincorporated Lee County were all notified back in March they could be losing their discount on National Flood Insurance. The main reason was allowing unpermitted work to be done by residents and businesses after Hurricane Ian. FEMA challenged them to do better.
In November, FEMA notified Cape Coral, Estero, Bonita and unincorporated Lee County they passed the test and could keep the discount. Fort Myers Beach was told they failed and would be put on probation for at least one year with residents losing their 25% flood insurance discount for that year. The only reason Fort Myers Beach was given was “unsafe structures.” The ruling from FEMA came down verbally over the phone with an official letter that will be sent soon.
Fort Myers Beach was ground zero for Hurricane Ian two years ago. There is no rule book in place to recover from a Category 5 hurricane. Mayor Dan Allers, clearly not happy with the ruling, says the only thing FEMA told them was they lost the discount due to “unsafe structures in a high hazard flood zone.” They were not any more specific than that. If that is in fact the official ruling from FEMA, that would include a much wider swath of buildings other than what FEMA has led the town to believe was the reason. For example…The Wyndham is clearly unsafe (the town has red-tagged it). The owner is dragging his feet taking the building down so the town may have to do it for him.
The house across from The Pink Shell is clearly unsafe (the owner filed a lawsuit against the town for trying to knock it down). The Neptune Resort is obviously unsafe (they say their bank told them not to tear it down).
There are a host of other unsafe structures, both residential and commercial, that the town has aggressively gone after to try to get into compliance. Nearly every residential and commercial structure on the island was damaged by that storm. Many residents were trapped in their homes and condo buildings for days without power and running water. Some residents died.
The local Fort Myers Beach government in place at the time was non-existent and had to be replaced by the newly elected officials, including the town manager and town attorney. Once a new town manager was hired, new systems were put in place, the permitting process was fixed, and today residential construction can be seen on every street of Fort Myers Beach.
To this day, many condo buildings are still closed as they fight with insurance companies and try to find reasonably priced contractors while not nailing owners with so many assessments they can no longer afford to live in their buildings. FEMA is throwing salt into their wounds by eliminating their insurance discount. In addition to the vagueness of the reason given to the town for dropping the discount, there’s the FEMA-administered Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. That program grants money to homeowners to either elevate their house ($150,000) or reconstruct it ($400,000). There are about 50 Fort Myers Beach homeowners who’ve applied for this grant. Over two years later they are still waiting for the money. Not only are they still waiting for the grant money, but they’ve also been told by FEMA not to touch their homes.
So, you have at least 50 homes on Fort Myers Beach, some of which could be determined to be unsafe, because FEMA told the homeowner not to touch them. If FEMA cannot figure out how to administer its own grant program in two years how do they expect Fort Myers Beach to clear thousands of structures, after a category 5 hurricane, in two years? So, what does this mean to the thousands of Fort Myers Beach residents in the National Flood Insurance Program? It’ll vary from street to street and house to house.
Kevin and Michelle Kroeger, who are from Iowa, saved up for their dream home to retire in a house on Sabal Drive. They were paying $3,000 / year for flood insurance. Losing the discount will tack on another $750. Dave Leigh is on Bay View Drive. Dave is one of 50 homeowners waiting for the FEMA grant so he can either elevate or rebuild his home. Dave was (and still is even without a home) paying $5,000 / year for flood insurance. FEMA has instructed him not to touch his house as he waits, now for over two years, for FEMA to administer the grant money. It’s important to note that anyone who applies for a mortgage on Fort Myers Beach must have flood insurance. Banks will not approve a mortgage without it.
For months town staff has been reporting to the Town Council that they’ve been regularly meeting with FEMA and providing them all the documentation they’ve requested in order to keep the discount.
What does it mean for Fort Myers Beach to be on probation? According to the FEMA call to the town Thursday, this probation is for a year. Perhaps the town could get the discount back after a year. Does that mean every unsafe structure would need to be gone by Nov. 18, 2025? The mayor says it has not gotten very clear direction from FEMA on exactly what they want done and by when. There’s also a possibility that Fort Myers Beach could be completely kicked out of the program, leaving thousands of residents to fend for themselves to find flood insurance. There’s also the possibility that the new Trump administration could make sweeping changes to FEMA and with the help of Sen. Rick Scott, Fort Myers Beach could be looked at a little differently than it is now.