© 2026 WGCU News
News for all of Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Irma Claims Already Exceed Matthew, Hermine

Hurricane Irma's massive girth assured most of Florida experienced at least tropical storm-force winds. Irma insurance claims already exceed Matthew and Hermine.
WUSF
Hurricane Irma's massive girth assured most of Florida experienced at least tropical storm-force winds. Irma insurance claims already exceed Matthew and Hermine.

State regulators say the 335,000 insurance claims filed by Hurricane Irma victims already outstrip the two storms that blasted Florida last year.

Hurricane Irma's massive girth assured most of Florida experienced at least tropical storm-force winds. Irma insurance claims already exceed Matthew and Hermine.
Credit WUSF
Hurricane Irma's massive girth assured most of Florida experienced at least tropical storm-force winds. Irma insurance claims already exceed Matthew and Hermine.

So far, Irma claims total $1.9 billion in property losses, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation. Hurricane Matthew’s 119 thousand claims totaled $1.2 billion in losses.

Hurricane Hermine left insurance companies juggling nearly 20,000 claims totaling $139 million in losses.

Irma claims are heaviest in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier and Lee counties. 

Copyright 2020 WFSU. To see more, visit WFSU.

Jim Ash is a reporter at WFSU-FM. A Miami native, he is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.
Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • Suncoast Searchlight reviewed water-restriction complaints and enforcement records across Sarasota County during Southwest Florida’s most severe drought in nearly a decade and found municipalities are taking sharply different approaches to enforcement. While some jurisdictions actively patrol for violations and issue citations, others rely primarily on education and warnings and provide few clear ways for residents to report violations. We also examine how the drought has heightened public scrutiny over water use, with hundreds of residents filing complaints about sprinklers, lush lawns and suspected overwatering during the regional shortage.
  • Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. Turns out, the fight isn’t over. Behind the scenes, county, school and tax officials spent the next few days sparring over whether Tuesday’s commission vote actually restored the decades-old practice — or whether another formal vote would be required before the money could be released to the school district, according to emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight.
  • A study shows that short movement breaks can offset damage done by sitting and looking at screens all day.