Florida offers grants to encourage hurricane damage mitigation

Florida’s Department of Financial Services is working out the details of a program offering grants of up to $5,000 to homeowners who take steps to mitigate hurricane damages.

Individual matching grants of up to $5,000 will be available for homes valued up to $500,000. Low income homeowners will be eligible for $5,000 grants with no match required.

The program will cover roof deck attachments, secondary water barriers, roof coverings, brace gable ends, reinforced roof-to-wall connections, opening protection and exterior doors, including garage doors.

According to DFS, the grant process will involve a two steps: applicants must undergo a free home inspection; and they must apply for a matching grant.

Implementation of the program is subject to annual legislative appropriations.

The law calls for free home-retrofit inspections of site-built, residential property, including single-family, two-family, three-family and four-family residential units. DFS said it will solicit proposals from wind certification entities to provide at no cost to homeowners wind certification and hurricane mitigation inspections. The inspections provided to homeowners, at a minimum, must include:

1. A home inspection and report summarizing the results and identifying corrective actions a homeowner may take to mitigate hurricane damage.
2. A range of cost estimates regarding mitigation features.
3. Insurer-specific information regarding premium discounts correlated to recommended mitigation features identified by the inspection.
4. A hurricane resistance rating scale specifying the home’s current as well as projected wind resistance capabilities.

Retrofit grants
The legislation also authorizes financial grants to encourage residential property owners to retrofit their properties to make them less vulnerable to hurricane damage. To be eligible for such a grant, a residential property must:

1. Have been granted a homestead exemption under Chapter 196.
2. Be a dwelling with an insured value of $500,000 or less.
3. Have undergone an acceptable wind certification and hurricane mitigation inspection.

A property which is part of a multi-family residential unit may receive a grant only if all homeowners participate and the number of units do not exceed four.

Grants must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis for a total of $10,000 for the mitigation project with the state’s contribution not to exceed $5,000.

Topics Florida Catastrophe Natural Disasters Hurricane Homeowners