Getting an inside look at the FEMA discount controversy

Picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian has been difficult for many and moving on can impact our wallets.

A substantial flood insurance discount hangs in the balance for more than 100,000 people, and it’s hard to get information about what’s going on in secret meetings between FEMA and five municipalities.

There’s nothing coming directly out, so WINK News sat down with Craig Fugate, who ran Florida’s Department of Emergency Management during Hurricane Charley and ran FEMA after Katrina, to pick his brain.

“As long as I was in the federal government, we never penalized local governments on judgment calls,” said Fugate.

Fugate said it’s not likely anyone is quibbling over a few dollars in a “50% rule” calculation.

That rule says that if rebuilding costs more than 50% of the value of your home, not including the land, you have to rebuild to current building codes. He also said that he doesn’t see a “worst-case scenario” that can’t be fixed.

“I really don’t see that from what I’m seeing and hearing. It sounds like there may be a handful of cases. There could be some perceptions,” said Fugate.

For example, we’ve seen about 200 Cape homeowners “red-tagged” for unpermitted work, but several of those were found not to have been in violation.

To be clear, Fugate is not involved in the meetings. However, he said that during his time at FEMA, he saw some serious violations, where whole counties were prevented from losing not just their discount but also their ability to get federal flood insurance.

“That’s what you do, a corrective action plan,” said Fugate.

The bottom line is while we wait and see how this unfolds, cities and counties opt in to the national flood insurance program and agree to certain rules to get it and get discounts.

“As people complain about this or say this is being targeted, every government that’s in the flood insurance program voluntarily agrees to the ordinances and the enforcement of that,” said Fugate, “as a condition of FEMA making flood insurance through that program available.”

The deadline is June 10 for Lee County and the municipalities we mentioned to get things right with FEMA. If they don’t, a 25% flood insurance discount goes away in October.