Hurricane Isaias by the Numbers

Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida on October 9, 2026, at about 8:30 PM Central time, with 105 mph sustained winds. It battered Walton, Okaloosa, Bay, Santa Rosa, and Escambia counties before weakening inland. All warnings were discontinued by the final advisory. The storm lasted one night. The claim count it left behind is still growing into shape, and this page tracks the numbers that matter.

Nearly 55,000 Isaias claims were filed in Florida.

Nearly 8,500 of those claims have already closed without a payment.

Just over 3,500 closed with a payment.

About 43,000 claims were still open.

Those counts come from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the state office that collects claim data from every carrier writing in Florida. The count is as of October 20, 2026, eleven days after landfall. It is a snapshot, not a final score. Claims were still being reported when the state took it, and they still are.

What closed without payment means

Closed without payment means the carrier finished the file and paid nothing on it. Nearly 8,500 Florida households and businesses filed a claim after a hurricane and received zero dollars at the end of the process.

Some of those files closed for honest reasons. Damage can land under a hurricane deductible. Some reported losses fall outside what a policy covers. Those outcomes are part of any storm’s count, and no one honest would promise otherwise.

What it does not mean

It does not mean those 8,500 properties had no damage. A file can close without payment because an inspection was fast and missed the damage. It can close because the scope priced only part of the repair. It can close because the carrier called storm damage wear and tear. Each closed file carries a reason the carrier chose, and the carrier’s reason is not the last word.

It also does not mean the claim is over. A claim that closed without payment is not always a finished claim. Documented damage found inside the deadlines below can reopen or supplement a closed file. The deadlines, not the carrier’s first decision, decide when an Isaias claim truly ends.

The three dates that control every Isaias claim

  • Report your loss by October 9, 2027
  • Reopen or supplement your claim by April 9, 2028
  • The outside date PAG tracks for suit is October 9, 2031

Florida law sets the first two dates, one year from the date of loss to report it and eighteen months from the date of loss to supplement it. The third date is the outside limit for filing suit on the claim. Owners who document damage now protect all three dates at once. Owners who wait on a carrier to change its mind spend the first date without noticing.

Where your claim sits in the count

Every owner in the five counties the storm battered, Walton, Okaloosa, Bay, Santa Rosa, and Escambia, holds one line in this count. Your line sits in one of three places. It closed with a payment. It closed without one. Or it is still open, one of about 43,000 files waiting on a carrier decision.

Open is not the same as safe. An open file can sit for months and then close on the same fast scope that produced the first closures. The owners who protect an open claim are the ones who document while they wait. Photograph the damage with dates. Keep every letter the carrier sends. Write down every call, who you spoke with, and what they said. When the carrier finally prices the file, that record decides whether the number matches the damage.

If your line already sits in the closed without payment column, the count is not your ending. The supplement date above, April 9, 2028, is the date that governs your next move, and it runs from the storm, not from the day the carrier closed your file.

FEMA help is a separate door

On October 29, 2026, FEMA approved Individual Assistance for eight Florida counties: Bay, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington. That approval lets households in those counties apply for federal help with needs insurance does not reach.

FEMA help runs after insurance, not beside it. Federal law bars FEMA from paying for a loss your insurance already paid for. FEMA calls that duplication of benefits. FEMA reads your insurance file before it decides, and it asks for your settlement or your denial. What it pays on is the gap your policy left, the uninsured and underinsured part of the loss. So your carrier’s number matters twice. A short estimate shorts your claim and shapes your FEMA file at the same time. And if FEMA pays first and your carrier pays later for the same damage, the part that overlaps can be owed back to FEMA. Apply for FEMA help if your county is on the list. Just work it in the right order. Insurance first. FEMA on the gap.

Find the page for your town

Isaias hit the whole coast, not one town. Each page below covers the damage pattern, the local claim problems, and the same three deadlines for its area.

The guides behind the numbers

Get your number checked

Hundreds of millions recovered for Florida policyholders over 17 years. We work for you, not the insurance company. A free claim review starts with the estimate your carrier sent you. We read it line by line against the damage and tell you plainly where you stand.

Call 800.511.2240 for your free claim review, or start here: https://policyholderadvocacygroup.com/free-hurricane-inspection/