LARGO, Fla. — In hindsight, one Largo mobile homeowner is grateful Citizens Property Insurance forced her to get flood insurance this year.
Jane Pastva Morgan originally emailed ABC Action News Anchor Nadeen Yanes back in April, upset by the requirement. At that time, she was in tears, saying that in addition to her homeowner rates doubling over the last five years, the newly required flood insurance cost was doubling her rates again.
"If there is any way to please do whatever you can to help us that can't help ourselves," Pastva Morgan said back in April, in tears at her dining room table.
Fast-forward six months, and the dining room she was sitting in has been demolished. Her home flooded during Hurricane Milton, and last week, a public adjuster declared it a total loss.
"It's devastating. It really is," Pastva Morgan said through tears. "So I hope, if you're listening, find a way to pay your flood insurance. You know, if it's a vacation or flood insurance, pay the flood insurance because when you lose everything; you lose everything, and you'll be thankful you have some coverage to be able to move on."
Citizens Property Insurance is requiring all policyholders to have flood insurance in a phased approach by 2027. Its CEO, Tim Cerio, spoke on the benefits of those requirements at an insurance village in Clearwater after Hurricane Helene despite all the pushback the company has received on the requirement.
"We are now seeing now that was a good policy for the legislature to pass," Cerio said. "With Debby, now Helene, we are seeing flooding of folks not in a flood zone and it's for the protection for the consumer."
When will the water go away?
Two weeks after Milton, many Pasco County residents are questioning if rapid development has played a role in unprecedented flooding.