By Kerry Sanders
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 12:23 p.m. ET Aug. 12, 2004MIAMI - As hurricane season begins to pound its way home with the threat of Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie, coastal residents in Florida and throughout the southeast are frantically make preparations to ward off disaster. But even if the storm doesn't make landfall, they've likely already paid a tremendous price for living where they do.
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In the hurricane zone homeowners live in fear, and this year, it’s not only the storm threat, it's the cost of hurricane insurance.
Kathie Hartie in Galveston, Texas, like others near the coast in her state, is paying an average of 75 percent more than just four years ago. Her insurance bill this year will be $3,500.
“I've been here for 40 years. My family has owned this house and I would hate to not be able to live here because of the cost of insurance. Is it going to end? I don't know," said Hartie.
On the South Florida coast, the cost of insurance has spiked even more.
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There's a 30-day waiting period on flood insurance from the time you apply to the day it's effective. If you wait to call your agent until the hurricane warnings go up, it's too late.
Likewise, when a hurricane watch or warning is announced, agents lose their "binding authority" -- their authority to enact insurance policies -- until the watch or warning is canceled.
They had interviewed someone on our local news in Detroit who had moved to Florida late this summer and wasn't able to get covered in time. Some folks can't afford an extra $4000-6000 a year, and others weren't able to get it when they tried. I still say it's barbaric to not help them.
Dee