10 minute read

AT A GLANCE

Hurricane season opened June 1. Peak season runs mid-August through late October. The mistakes that hurt SWFL homeowners the most are almost never the ones a new-to-Florida buyer makes. New buyers are cautious. They read the checklists. They ask the questions. They buy the extra battery packs and put them on the counter. The mistakes that hurt the most are the ones longtime Florida homeowners make because they think they already know. After Charley, Irma, Ian, Helene, Milton, and every named system in between, an experienced Florida homeowner can develop a quiet overconfidence that turns into a five-figure surprise when the next storm arrives. Today's post walks through seven of the most consequential mistakes we watch experienced homeowners make in June and early July, along with what to actually do about each one. This is the companion piece to our June 1 Hurricane Season Insurance and Prep Guide, which is the pillar. This is the "even you" list.

Mistake 1: Assuming You Can Bind or Shop Coverage Once the First Storm Is in the Cone

The mistake. Waiting until a storm develops to shop or renew Florida wind and flood coverage.

Why it happens. Longtime homeowners often let their auto-renewal ride, or they mean to shop around after Memorial Day and then get busy. The idea is that if something comes up, they will shop then.

Why it burns them. Florida homeowner and flood carriers stop binding new coverage the moment a named storm enters a defined watch box in the Atlantic or Caribbean. Some carriers stop as soon as a tropical depression forms. Others stop 48 or 72 hours before landfall probability crosses a threshold. When binding is closed, it is closed. It does not matter that you have been a customer for 20 years, that you have never filed a claim, or that you were about to sign the paperwork. If the box is up, you are stuck with what you have.

The fix. Have your renewal and any shopping conversations done and paperwork in force by June 1. If you are looking at a policy change (raising coverage, adding a rider, switching carriers), do it before hurricane season opens. Once the first system spins up, you are in the middle of the season and your options collapse.

Mistake 2: Never Getting the Wind Mitigation Inspection Done (And Leaving Real Money on the Table)

The mistake. Owning a Florida home for years without ever paying for a Wind Mitigation Inspection (WMI) and filing the resulting Uniform Mitigation Verification Form (Form OIR-B1-1802).

Why it happens. Longtime owners assume their carrier has the credits already baked into the premium. Or they assume the previous inspection (from 2019, from 2016, from the year they bought) is still on file. Or they never knew the inspection existed.

Why it burns them. A current WMI can reduce Florida wind premium by 20% to 40% for a properly-hardened home (concrete block construction, hip roof, hurricane straps, impact windows and doors, code-compliant roof-to-wall connections, secondary water resistance). On a $6,000 annual wind premium, that is a $1,200 to $2,400 annual difference. Over five years, that is a five-figure number for the cost of a one-day inspection. And the credits only apply if the inspection is on file with your carrier and less than five years old.

The fix. If you cannot say confidently that a current WMI is on file with your current carrier, call your agent this week and ask. If it is not on file or is more than five years old, hire a licensed inspector (typically $150 to $300) and get the current form filed. The inspection pays for itself in the first renewal, often several times over.

Mistake 3: Waiting Until the Cone Confirms Landfall to Leave

The mistake. Watching the cone through Friday and Saturday, telling yourself you will leave on Sunday if the cone tightens.

Why it happens. Longtime Floridians have watched enough near-misses to develop pattern recognition. Storms wobble. Storms weaken. Storms turn. Storms that were "definitely coming for us" on Wednesday were curving toward the Carolinas by Sunday. So the reflex is to wait.

Why it burns them. SWFL evacuation math depends on bridges. The Cape Coral Bridge, the Midpoint Memorial Bridge, the Caloosahatchee Bridge, the Sanibel Causeway, the Matlacha bridges, and the Fort Myers Beach bridges all close under specific wind conditions well before landfall. When those bridges close, the geography that made your neighborhood attractive becomes the geography that traps you. Additionally, evacuation routes north (I-75, US 41) turn into parking lots as the Tampa Bay, Sarasota, and Bradenton evacuations flow south-to-north through Lee and Collier. The window to leave comfortably is Thursday night or Friday morning for a Sunday-Monday landfall, not Saturday evening.

The fix. Set two calendar triggers. First, if a named storm's cone has your county inside the five-day error at any point, start prepping to leave and move family to safer ground within 24 hours. Second, if you live west of US 41 or on an island or peninsula, leave a full 12 hours earlier than you would if you lived east of the interstate. The bridge closures do not care about your schedule.

Mistake 4: Owning a Generator Without Owning a Transfer Switch

The mistake. Buying a portable generator (or even a permanent one) without professionally installing a transfer switch or an interlock kit.

Why it happens. The generator itself feels like the hard purchase. It is expensive and requires research. The transfer switch feels like a "next time" project. Meanwhile, the current setup (extension cords running through a cracked window to a power strip in the garage) has worked in the past.

Why it burns them. Running a generator through extension cords limits you to whatever the cord can carry. You cannot run your central AC, your well pump, or your electric range through an extension cord. After Ian, we watched several SWFL homes stay uninhabitable for weeks after power was restored to the neighborhood, because the homeowner's rented AC crew could not restart the AC without a properly wired generator connection during those first 96 hours when mold was setting in. Extension cords are also a fire risk when they are overloaded, when they run through a wet window frame, or when they are left in the rain. The National Fire Protection Association records generator-related residential fires every hurricane cycle.

The fix. Have a licensed electrician install either a manual transfer switch (roughly $500 to $1,500 depending on complexity) or an interlock kit (typically $200 to $500) on your main electrical panel. Both allow you to safely run the generator into the panel and back-feed selected circuits (AC, well pump, refrigerator, key outlets) without extension cords. Both make the generator usable at full capacity. If you have a generator without one of these, you have half a solution.

Mistake 5: Not Having a Written Plan for the Lanai Screen Enclosure

The mistake. Treating the pool cage and screen panels as "the pool company's problem" or as "we will deal with them if it looks bad."

Why it happens. Screen enclosures are the SWFL landscape feature that nobody wants to disassemble for a storm that might miss. Removing panels is real work. Reinstalling is more work. And most seasons, most storms miss.

Why it burns them. In sustained winds of 90 to 110 mph (a strong Cat 1 or a Cat 2), the aluminum frame of a screen enclosure can catch enough wind to become a sail. The frame that leaves the concrete deck often takes part of the roof line, part of the pool deck, part of the exterior wall, or all three with it. After Ian, the single most common exterior claim on SWFL homes was screen enclosure and lanai failure. Some of that damage was unavoidable at Category 4 wind speeds. Much of it was avoidable at lower wind speeds if the panels had been removed or the enclosure had been designed to release wind pressure.

The fix. Have a written pre-storm plan that answers three questions. First, at what wind speed threshold do you (or a hired crew) remove screen panels? Second, if the storm is coming faster than you can act, which panels do you cut with a utility knife to release wind pressure and save the frame (typically the two panels facing the incoming wind quadrant)? Third, who is doing the work, when, and with what tools? Save the plan on your phone under "Hurricane" and share it with your spouse or a trusted neighbor.

Mistake 6: Not Documenting the Pre-Storm Condition of Your Home (In Photos, Room by Room)

The mistake. Assuming your insurance claim after a storm will be handled based on your description of what the home looked like before.

Why it happens. In the moment, taking photos of a home you have lived in for 15 years feels silly. Your carrier knows you. Your agent knows you. Surely they will trust you on the condition of the roof, the lanai furniture, the kitchen cabinets, the flooring, the electronics.

Why it burns them. They will not. After a covered loss, the burden of establishing pre-loss condition falls on the homeowner. Post-storm adjusters see thousands of homes in the weeks after a hurricane. They cannot know what your kitchen looked like the day before. They rely on what you can prove. Homeowners who cannot document pre-loss condition end up in longer disputes with lower settlements. Some claims stall out entirely on condition documentation.

The fix. Do a full pre-season photo walk of your home. Every room. Open every cabinet. Photograph the roof from the yard and, if you can, from a step ladder for close-ups. Photograph major appliances with model numbers visible. Photograph the exterior from all four sides. Photograph the lanai furniture, the outdoor kitchen, the pool equipment, the boat and the boat lift. Store the photos in cloud storage (iCloud, Google Photos, Dropbox) with dates automatically stamped. This is 45 minutes of work that becomes the single most valuable evidence file you have if you ever file a hurricane claim. Redo it every June 1.

Mistake 7: Assuming "We Are Above Base Flood Elevation" Means You Are Safe From Storm Surge

The mistake. Trusting that a home built at or above FEMA's Base Flood Elevation (BFE) is safe from a storm's worst water.

Why it happens. BFE is what the building code requires. BFE is what the mortgage lender required. BFE is what the surveyor confirmed. A house that meets BFE is legally compliant, and for decades that felt like enough.

Why it burns them. BFE is the elevation of the 1% annual chance flood (the "100-year flood"). A significant storm surge event can exceed BFE by two, three, or four feet. Storm surge is not just a rising tide. It is wind-driven water that pushes into structures through wall outlets, dryer vents, screen enclosures, garage doors, and eventually windows and walls. A home built exactly at BFE is legally compliant and can still take on significant water in a major storm. After Ian, we watched Cape Coral and Fort Myers Beach homes that were technically above BFE take on 12 to 24 inches of water because the storm surge exceeded the 100-year modeled flood elevation.

The fix. If you are building or renovating, build to BFE plus freeboard (typically two feet, which is what many post-Ian rebuilds are targeting). If you own an existing home at or near BFE, install flood vents to reduce hydrostatic pressure, seal wall outlets and dryer vents at ground level with removable covers, and elevate mechanicals (AC condensers, water heaters, pool pumps) off the ground pad where possible. And regardless of your elevation, carry flood insurance. As we noted in our 6/30 mid-year recap, an AE flood zone policy in one of our current listings is under $1,000 per year in 2026. Flood insurance is one of the most consequential dollar-for-dollar purchases a SWFL homeowner can make.

The Meta Mistake: Assuming This Year Will Look Like Last Year

Underneath all seven mistakes is one deeper mistake. Longtime Floridians assume that because they survived the last storm, they know what to expect from the next one. Ian in 2022 was a benchmark event. Helene and Milton in 2024 were benchmarks in their own ways. The 2020, 2021, and 2023 seasons were mild by SWFL standards.

The historical pattern is that SWFL sees a major storm impact roughly every 8 to 12 years. That does not mean a major storm is due this year. It also does not mean it is not. Preparation that treats every season as if the major impact might be this one is the preparation that keeps homeowners intact when a season turns severe. Preparation that assumes another mild year is the preparation that turns into a five-figure surprise when the season turns.

We are not in the fear business. We are in the "prepare like it might be the year, hope it is not" business. Prep is cheap. Repair is expensive.

How We Can Help

If you are selling a Florida home before the end of the year, or buying one during hurricane season (yes, that happens more often than you would think), or trying to figure out whether your specific property has vulnerabilities you have never addressed, Kim and Martin Hawley are happy to talk it through. We can point you to inspection companies, generator electricians, wind mitigation specialists, and insurance agents we trust across the SWFL market. The conversation is free. The clarity may save you six figures across the life of your ownership.

Kim and Martin Hawley are Realtors with The Hawley Team at Keller Williams Fort Myers and the Islands.

The Hawley Team at Keller Williams Fort Myers and the Islands

(239) 420-9027 | martin@teamhawley.com | teamhawley.com

Disclosures

Specific insurance premium ranges, WMI inspection costs, transfer switch costs, generator sizing, and flood policy premiums are illustrative ranges based on 2026 SWFL market observations and are not guarantees of pricing for any specific property. All homeowners should verify current pricing and requirements with a licensed Florida insurance agent, a licensed Florida electrician, and their FEMA flood zone map.

Building code, FEMA flood zone, and Base Flood Elevation references reflect Lee County and Collier County local building code and FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps as of 2026 publication. Homeowners should verify current requirements for their specific property with the local building department and their surveyor of record.

The Hawley Team does not provide licensed insurance, engineering, or legal advice; the guidance in this post is general and educational in nature.

Each Keller Williams office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.