Floridians File More Than 39K Claims For Hurricane Damage

Policyholders recovering from Hurricane Matthew filed about 34,300 insurance claims since Sunday night, bringing the statewide total through Wednesday morning to 39,302, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation. So far, 76.1 percent of all claims were filed in five coastal counties in the northern half of the state that were hit hardest by the storm, the tally shows. They are Volusia (11,955), Duval (6,536), Brevard (5,499), St. Johns (3,654) and Flagler (2,273). Just 856 claims, or 2.2 percent, came from South Florida, which escaped the brunt of Matthew on Oct. 6 when the storm emerged from the Bahamas further east than expected before heading northwest toward the state.