CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Residents in Cape Coral could be a big step closer to keeping their access to a critical discount of up to 25% on federal flood insurance.
Late Wednesday, a city spokeswoman confirmed via email to Cape Coral's Community Correspondent Colton Chavez that the city had completed their work required to be considered for compliance with FEMA's requirements for the discount.
"Cape Coral completed the work today. FEMA will be here tomorrow and we will hand deliver it to them. We’re very excited."
Melissa Mickey
Communications Manager, City of Cape Coral
Late on a Friday in March, Lee County first notified the public that FEMA was rescinding its flood insurance discount effective October 1. This included cities like Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach, and county areas.
FEMA argued too many people in southwest Florida rebuilt their homes after Hurricane Ian without proper permitting and a lack of documentation.
After a couple weeks of back and forth, FEMA agreed to give all affected communities a brief window of time to get into compliance. Cape Coral's deadline was June 10.
Fox 4 Investigates showed last week in a series of hearings in Cape Coral, that more than one quarter of the residents accused of such action in that city were later found innocent.
At the time of publication, it was unknown whether Lee County and other communities had also finished their compliance work. FOX 4 will be following through to find out.
