Tampa Bay homeowners brace for spike in flood insurance rates

TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. (WFLA) - On Thursday, Treasure Island city officials will help homeowners navigate changes in flood insurance rates.

Throughout Florida, families are bracing for a jump in flood insurance premiums.

Florida woman buys two winning $2M Mega Millions tickets

Well, we are pretty committed here, we've personally invested a lot into our property and I guess we are going to have to end up taking it on the chin," said Matt Skonicki who lives in an area prone to flooding.

The Federal Emergency Management System is implementing a new risk rating system on Oct. 1st. Jake Holehouse with HH insurance expects 80% of Florida homeowners to see an increase in their flood insurance premiums.

"Four percent will be drastically affected. Now, that's only this year and what we are seeing on a 10 year horizon is the rate is significantly worse," he said.

The changes coming through the system update are part of FEMA's 2018-2022 Strategic Plan.

According to Holehouse, new home and those close to the water will likely see the largest impact.

"We have seen some examples of homes going from $600 to $6,000 and other homes on the barrier islands from $400 to $11,553," the insurance agent said.

Tickets to go on sale for Enchant Christmas at Tropicana Field

Holehouse says families can explore a couple of options to cutdown on the cost. He says increasing your deductible can decrease your premium. You can also turn to the private insurance market.

"As a beach mayor, it almost makes me feel as though the federal government doesn't want our communities to be in existence," said Treasure Island Mayor Tyler Payne.

The Treasure Island community is holding an information meeting on the flood insurance changes.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 120 180th Avenue.

For more detailed information on the projected premium changes, FEMA has made several ArcGIS dashboards available to explore state and county-level price changes.

* Projected Premium Changes by State

* Projected Premium Changes by ZIP Code – NFIP Policies

* Projected Premium Changes by ZIP Code – SFH Policies (Single-Family Homes)