Canadian communities who winter in Florida have been hit hard by Hurricane Ian, which left Florida in a state of destruction and an estimated US$40-70 billion bill.

Canada’s snowbirds had no choice but to wait out the storm with little to no updates from their neighbours in North Fort Myers – before waiting a little longer once it had passed, as Canada’s healthcare regulations limited the time they were allowed outside the country, The Star reported.

Once they had arrived in Florida, many Canadians had to decide whether or not their homes could still be lived in with all the damage, while others had to indefinitely put off plans to sell their homes.

“This has been our home for 13 years – we go down for six months every year,” Gary Wilson, a Canadian from London, Ont. who made a mobile home in North Fort Myers, Florida, told The Sun. “We were planning on going down this year and selling our place, but the home now is pretty much questionable as to whether or not it could be sold. It’s also questionable as to whether or not it could be lived in.”

With Hurricane Ian now being called one of Florida’s deadliest hurricanes in over 80 years, the post-pandemic costs of groceries in the US continuing to mount, and a post-Ian insurance premium hike just over the horizon, it has become clear that insurance will not be enough for many Florida snowbirds to keep their migrating habit.

“That’s a big concern this winter,” president of the Canadian Snowbird Association Bob Slack was quoted as saying in The Sun. “We’ll just have to cut back on activities and going out to dinner and doing all the frills. Stay at home and cook, get the barbecue going.”

The future was much grimmer for Wilson. “[This] will be the end of our vacationing in Florida,” he told the news hub. “We have no idea what we’re facing financially. None. We are seniors on fixed income, and finances are certainly limited. There are just a lot of unknowns until we … get talking to the insurance companies and adjusters and whatnot.”