After Hurricane Ian, floods leave a deep insurance gap
Fuss Johnson was born in Daytona, Florida, grew up in North Carolina, and then returned to the Sunshine State with his family as a teenager. He once tried living in California. He caught the first ride back.
“It’s hard to imagine being anywhere else,” says Mr. Johnson, who is now in his 50s. “Florida’s home.”
A home, he says, that is now sitting in water. Days after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast, killing over 100 people and leaving vast fields of wreckage, water from the storm’s massive rainfall is still inundating the great peninsula’s palmetto-dotted interior.
The Peace River near North Port is still turning yards into ponds. Clear Water Lake in Apopka has continued to rise. People are trudging in and out of sodden apartment buildings in Orange County – the seat of Disney.
And here in Astor, where Mr. Johnson is the bridge mechanic for the single-span Astor Bridge, the St. Johns River was still severely flooded on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of homes with water in them and residents wandering around in disbelief.
