The Florida Council of 100 released its Resilience Report to offer practical and pragmatic solutions that help Floridians recover, rebuild and protect what makes this state so special.

Annual flooding in Florida is our new reality. With three-quarters of Floridians living in coastal counties, hurricanes and flooding have affected nearly every corner of our state. When storms hit, the damage isn’t just to fallen trees or flooded streets. Businesses close. Workers lose paychecks. Families are displaced. Insurance premiums spike. Housing costs rise. Communities lose residents and sometimes never fully recover. 

And it doesn’t take a named storm for these disruptions to hit. I saw this firsthand in Fort Lauderdale on April 12, 2023, when historic flash flooding – more than two feet of rain in 12 hours — left me wading home from work in knee-deep water, and three of my colleagues stranded in their cars overnight. This wasn’t just a weather event; it was an economic shock that rippled across the regional economy to the tune of $1.1 billion.