FLASHBACK: DeSantis’ Told Floridians to ‘Knock on Wood’ During Hurricane Season

Floridians Face Rising Costs, Collapsing Home Insurance Market Due to Climate-Fueled Extreme Weather and Other Disasters

Washington, D.C. – In July, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled his hurricane preparedness plan amid predictions of an active Atlantic hurricane season: “knocking on wood that we won’t have a big storm this summer.” Now, Floridians are facing the imminent arrival of an extremely dangerous Category 3 storm that is likely to be accompanied by deadly storm surge along Florida’s west coast.

“While Floridians are facing sky-high temperatures, soaring inflation, and an extremely dangerous hurricane fueled by record warmth in the Gulf of Mexico, Ron DeSantis continues to deny the realities of climate change,” said Climate Power Deputy Executive Director Claire Moser. “Florida is on the front lines of the climate crisis and Floridians deserve better from their leaders. The climate crisis is real, it’s here, and we need leaders with real plans to address it, not just thoughts and prayers.”

As ocean temperatures off Florida hit an unprecedented 100+ degrees earlier this summer and still remain around 90 degrees (up to 100 feet below the surface) in the Gulf of Mexico, DeSantis has focused on his faltering presidential campaign, leaving his constituents to deal with energy costs, a collapsing insurance market, and the impacts of climate change on their own. Major insurance companies are pulling out of Florida because of the mounting toll of climate disasters and other extreme weather events. Since 2019, when DeSantis became Governor, Florida has been impacted by 18 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, costing between $100 and $200 billion in total. Even so, DeSantis’ loyalty is to his oil and gas executive campaign funders.