Ren Shieldo, the composer of "In the Good Ole Summer Time," might never have written that upbeat-tune had he experienced the summer of 2004 in the State of Florida.
Our Caribbean visitors Charley, Frances, Ivan and, oh yes, Jeanne, saw to it that we would have a memorable sum-mer, the likes of which have occurred only one other time in our nation's history (in Texas, 1886). The summer of 2004 was not necessarily a "good ole one," at least not in Florida. Our frustrating array of hurricanes not only delivered a devastating punch to our state, but also administered the most devastating costly one, two, three and four punches in our state's history.
On August 13, Hurricane Charley made landfall with winds measuring 145 mph and topped out at 180 mph as it slammed into Punta Gorda at full force. The devastating results prompted Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to comment, "Our worst fears have come true." After viewing Punta Gorda from a helicopter, "it's hard to describe seeing an entire community flattened," Bush said. Not stopping there, the storm continued across Central Florida, visiting Orlando before heading back into the Atlantic Ocean at Daytona Beach.
Within weeks of Charley's visit, on September 4, Hurricane Frances made landfall near Sewall's Point, 35 miles north of West Palm Beach. It immediately knocked out power to 1.1 million homes and businesses. Following Charley's lead, this hurricane uprooted thousands of trees, some with root balls the size of a minivan. Unlike Hurricane Charley, which made a quick visit to our state, Frances went sightseeing, taking more than 12 hours to complete her landfall. Frances then lingered over the state a full 24 hours, bringing with it more than 20 inches of rainfall. At the slow-moving pace of 7 mph, Frances caused extreme devastation to all in its path.
The Fort Pierce City Marina in the Intracoastal Waterway sustained major damage, as did many boats moored there that crashed against the docks and seawalls. These painful winds and rain prompted President Bush to declare the state a "major disaster area." Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), lauded the response of Florida government, stating that its collective coordination precluded the need for the military to intervene. Almost immediately after the hurricane, literally thousands of emergency trucks and personnel began flowing into the state to assist with the mop-up effort. This influx of vehicles, coupled with the return of some 2.8 million people who previously had been asked to evacuate, put a phenomenal strain on our highway system - one of the lessons learned during this catastrophe.
Many Floridians thought after this experience, "What else can go wrong?" The answer was soon to come. Most Floridians still were reeling from the effects of the worst succession of hurricanes since Agnes in June 1972.
At the same time, the Weather Channel began discussing a hurricane named Ivan, just as most of us were assessing the billions of dollars of damage associated with Charley and Frances. On Tuesday, September 7, Ivan slammed into Grenada, killing at least 12 people and devastating 90 percent of the entire island. This was Florida's "wake-up call" that the hurricane season was not quite over yet. Hurricane No. 3 began its track straight toward Florida.
Once again, ice, gasoline and plywood went on the endangered species list. There were few survival items to be found anywhere. Florida was once more in survival mode- "hunkering down," as we began to call it. Ivan first decided to visit Mobile, Ala., where it spawned multiple tornadoes and was responsible for eight deaths. At the same time, mandatory evacuations were put in place throughout Florida's Panhandle, this time with little resistance from residents. Those living in the area since 1995 remembered Hurricane Opal, which brought Pensacola to its knees with vast destruction of homes and businesses; they showed no reluctance to start packing for Ivan.
When Ivan finally slammed into the Gulf Coast, it did so with winds up to 130 mph, killing a number of people, spawning six tornadoes, and devastating hundreds of homes and seven hospitals.
While our state was reeling from three straight hurricanes, Hurricane No. 4, Jeanne, came ashore at midnight on September 25. Jeanne brought a virtual rerun of devastation for residents who were still trying to regroup from the previous string of storms. Florida had finally matched a dubious national record established in 1886, when Texas also sustained a four-hurricane pounding in one season. According to FEMA, this string of hurricanes represented the largest relief effort in the agency's history.
Now that the water has receded in our state, the conversation has turned to cost and restoration. The final bill associated with the damage wrought by these four major hurricanes is difficult to estimate accurately at this time. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the estimated costs will probably fall between $22 billion and $23 billion. While this is a staggering figure, the good news is that the effect on insurers likely will be less than originally thought. This is a result of what we learned from Hurricane Andrew, which devastated Florida and rang up a bill of $15.5 million in damages.
Since that time, the State of Florida has put a system in place consisting of two tiers. First, the Florida Catastrophic Fund, or CAT Fund, makes affordable insurance available to private insurers, who then can restrict their pricing to their customers. Second is the Citizen Property Insurance Corporation (the old JUA). This is a last option for those homeowners who simply cannot find insurance anywhere else. According to the state's Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, this alternative will help retain the cufrent 168 insurers now writing policies for property in our state.
The Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, administered by the Florida League of Cities, was not excused from losses experienced by a number of our cities. While these figures are not conclusive at this writing, our cost estimates for the four hurricanes are as follows:
Charley $2,021,757
Frances $5,248,679
Ivan $605,050
Jeanne $1,198,000
TOTAL $9,073,436
Due to the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust's unique property reinsurance program, the actual financial impact to the fund was minimal, our adjusters were on the scene, and city governments were up and running in record time.
As our lives start getting back to normal, we now can look back at our summer of discontent. Almost like meteorologists, we all know what feeder bands are, and what the sky looks like at night as hundreds of transformers explode. We are cautious, but now look at tropical depressions as simple nuisances. We are optimistic as we look one another in the eye and ask the question, "What are the odds of this happening again?" Our yards and cities are pretty much cleaned up at this writing, and we are settling into some great weather that reflects why many of us came to Florida in the first place.
In addition, we are all better prepared to face our yearly hurricane season. We have learned many lessons. We have learned, for example, that there is much more that boat owners can do to protect their vessels than was previously believed. We all learned that we must fully prepare long before a hurricane touches down in our state. There is no plywood to be found six hours before the storm arrives.
Throughout our summer ordeal, there was little price gouging or long-term shortages of ice and water. Hurricane Agnes was our role model for preparation. To be certain, our foursome of hurricanes will continue to enlighten us on better preparation, but we were fortunate last summer and much better prepared. Insurance companies, individual citizens and government officials at all levels were much better prepared this time and, as such, we are almost back to normal.
Because of Florida's unprecedented experience this summer, the 2005 Governor's Hurricane Conference promises to be the most enlightening in its 19-year history.
At this point, let's keep our fingers crossed: Hurricane season officially ends November 30.
So far, so good.
Steve McGinn is director of Policy Holder Relations for the Florida League of Cities' Public Risk Services Department. For more information on the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, please contact him at (407) 425-9142 or smcginn@flcities.com.
If you're in the mood to reminisce a little more on hurricane season, check out this blog by former Sebastian City Clerk, Sally Maio.
McGinn, S. (2004, November/December) The Summer of Our Discontent. Quality Cities 29.
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