Tampa Property Insurance Disputes Blog

Florida is well-known for its many perks, such as warm weather all year and lots of tourist attractions to visit. However, one aspect of Florida is undesirable: hurricanes. These natural disasters are such a fact of life in the Sunshine State that you need to prepare not only your home, but your business, as well.

Insurance is already challenging enough with the likelihood of hurricane damage so high. Do your part to help minimize the harm and increase the success of your insurance claims with these tips from the National Hurricane Survival Initiative.

Your home is one of your most valuable assets and deserves sufficient protection from hurricanes, natural disasters that can wreak havoc on your property. One storm can destroy entire homes, depending on its severity.

You may hear about different categories of hurricanes but have some confusion about what they actually mean for you and your house. Here are some explanations of how Category Three, Category Four and Category Five hurricanes can harm your home:

As you know, Florida homes are highly likely to sustain damage from hurricanes and tropical storms. Even mild water damage can wreak havoc on your house, especially if mold begins to grow inside your walls or along the baseboards where you may not immediately notice it. Mold, wood rot and other forms of water damage could make it necessary to replace the drywall inside your home. If your home underwent renovations in the past and that included new drywall, you may want to find out if it was imported from China.

What is so bad about Chinese drywall, you may wonder? USA TODAY cautions that much of the drywall imported from China contains hydrogen sulfide, which, reports say, corrodes metal and impacts residents’ health. Chinese drywall is prevalent in homes throughout the South, especially in Florida, that sustained damages during the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons or underwent renovations between 2001 and 2009. This is because, during those times, American-manufactured drywall was in short supply. Contractors and builders had to use drywall imported from out of the country, particularly China.

The whole nation watched this year as one of the most expensive hurricane seasons in the U.S. hit Puerto Rico, Texas and right here in Florida. After the winds have died down and the dust has settled, these regions are left to clean up the damage.

This season's damage is currently estimated to be worth $202.6 billion. This is just behind the 2005 season, which reported $211.2 billion in damage, according to the National Weather Service.