PHX

Cracks me up. Home insurance as well as auto insurance is more expensive here. Oh and property tax (house, land, etc. NOT personal property tax). However, the state income tax is zero and well, you have to pay the piper somewhere in your life, don't you?

Insurance will go up here as well as throughout the entire US because of Ian. Been there, done that. Just like any insurance, you get what you pay for when you're shopping for it and most of all when you need it.

We had one small leak appear in the garage ceiling and am getting that checked out this week. Other than that zero damage other than an outdoor couch cushion falling onto the floor. I am extremely lucky, however I built more inland and overbuilt the homestead along with a generator and all the goodies.

For those people who did not move their cars, maybe they weren't home or are snowbirds and living elsewhere for the summer/early fall. The initial track was Tampa, then decidedly took a right turn and headed towards Ft Myers and there was maybe 24-36 hours notice.

**** happens. Just like no water in California (soon to be NV and AZ). Fires in CA, AZ, NV and the Pac NW. Tornadoes in the midwest. Blizzards in the NE. Earthquake along the west coast. Flooding along the Mississippi. Sigh...everyone would live in (insert the perfect state here if you can find it or whatever works for you) if everyone was conservative and risk-averse.

Hopefully those cars posted above are replaced as the owner's see fit and they are safe and without injury. That is what is most important.

yrralis1

There were people who evacuated Tampa only to get hit in Orlando or even Ft Myers as the storm originally was expected there . The only way to evacuate is the place the car in a hurricane proof garage and take a plane out of town as far away as possible days in advance . I have done it and I don't llive in an evacuation zone . When I walked on to the plane as Hurricane Wilma approached I was the only one LEAVING .My neighbors had no power for 14 days , I have animals now which adds a different challenge to evacuation . Ft Myers was given one day to leave. Even worse some of the EV's sitting in gridlock faced deviating course or being stranded exposing a huge gap in evacuation planning. My point is that its not as simple as your two sentence post suggests. Meterologists openly admitted that they were confident with the intensity but confused with the path . That threw a real curve at the event .

Right now there are people with nothing. Not all are wealthy or have savings , They lost their home. They lost their car. They even lost their clothes and belongings . They have been cit off from communicating in many parts . They are waiting for help and guidance and and they are not getting it fast enough .No one is being Lazy". This simply is a high magnitude catastrophe.

Smirnoff67

^^^^ well said PHX

I live in Florida too and I'd rather work on my income taxes while sitting in the Dentist chair than mess with insurance. Between cars, medical, businesses, kids, homeowners all of which renew at different times, it's enough to make me nuts...which is a short trip to begin with, and it costs me a fortune every year....ugh. Damn insurance companies have more money than the banks do, and all the angles figured out.

CodyBigdog

Florida, yes. Elsewhere, disagree.

Many major hurricanes have come and gone since I’ve owned my current house (on the water) in Maryland, leaving billions of dollars in damage every year…in Louisiana, Florida, Texas, etc….and my home insurance has barely gone up during that period. In fact, the only premiums that I’ve noticed going up the past couple of years seem to be tied to inflation, and the higher cost of building materials and labor rates.

The highest point in all of Florida is 365 feet, with a large % of Florida’s land mass at or below sea level. Florida has been hit by 3 major hurricanes (cat 4 or higher) in the last 5 years…and it’s not likely things will improve anytime soon.

As far as other states having their own disasters to deal with…sure, just not at the same frequency, nor magnitude, as hurricane and tornados in Fla.

”Tropical cyclones (or hurricanes) have caused the most damage: over $1.1 trillion total, with an average cost of $20.5 billion per event. They are also responsible for the highest number of deaths: 6,697 between 1980 and 2021.” The aforementioned figures did not include the estimated $61billion for Ian.

detansinn

These cars will find their way back onto the market with salvage titles and then, be behind strange RennList posts about weird behavior and noises where it takes 20-30 messages before the owner acknowledges a salvage title.

Stuff is stuff. Insurance exists for a reason. Life and health are far more important. Hope that our RennList friends in Florida are safe and sound. I could care less about the damaged cars.

yrralis1

After 35 years pf paying astronomical home insurance I finally said NO . I had a lot riding on. this storm . I never made a claim . In the past if a hurricane hit had I waited for an adjuster all the supplies would have been gone . Besides I have about a 50K deductible anyway so I just paid repairs out of pocket and got first priority on supplies . The final straw case this year when Citizens wanted to do a home inspection . They were going to peoples homes and making them replace their roofs not because they were broken but due to age . My roof was replaced after Andrew and NEVER had a problem so I wasn't going to spend 50K for a new one to keep Citizens Insurance . Neighbors of mine who found a small, private insurance company were dropped after the first claim BTW . All this talk about no income tax is made up by the Govt Insurance scam.
So I got a liability policy in case someone trips on my lawn but my house is on my dime to fix !!

If I had a total loss of my home I still believe I could sell out for more than I paid for it 32 years ago just for the land . It would be a huge loss but I would not rebuild . At 34 I did when Andrew hit but at 64 time is more valuable than money . It is a pure nightmare to deal with workers and contractors while sitting in a home with no power . No way ! I would be outta here !!

A total loss would mean downsizing . I would miss my nice cars and home but I would be fine in a cheaper cars in a smaller home in a less expense area as long as I have my wife and animals . I continue to live here fully aware of these potential worst case possibilities .

shrimp money

$20.5 billion per event? How much did we send to Ukraine this week?

dixonk

If the answer is more than $1, then way too much….

CodyBigdog

Less. Significantly less.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Release...ce-to-ukraine/


Are you suggesting we not support Ukraine?

CodyBigdog

Wow.

dixonk

Every year thousands of Americans are held at gunpoint and robbed of their wages by the government, is it too much to ask to spend the money on Americans and American problems before trying to save the world? If ukraine needs money maybe Bono can go on TV and raise some money for them…anyone is welcome to donate to the cause at that point no?

22992

we’ve got money to do both. I mean, Biden and fed have an absolutely stellar record and amazing foresight when determining fiscal and monetary policy. What could go wrong?

Patton250

if he doesn’t I will. We should not send a single penny.

As to the person claiming it’s laziness to leave a luxury car behind during evacuation you really have no idea what you’re talking about. I live in Tampa and have been through many many many of these things. The people in Fort Meyers were probably 100% convinced the storm was going to hit Tampa. I was. We were all ready for it. Then last second it turned sharply and went into Fort Myers. Now the people did have enough time to evacuate but they didn’t have enough time for long-term evacuation plans like removing all their vehicles.

CodyBigdog

RE: “Every year thousands of Americans are held at gunpoint and robbed of their wages by the governmen”.

Again, wow. Sounds to me you might be happier in a new country.?

How did you feel about 20 years of Afghanistan? More than a trillion $ pumped into Afghanistan, and thousands of American troops killed for a country that clearly illustrated it wasn’t willing to fight for its own destiny…by collapsing in a few weeks after leaving.

Providing a few billion in military support (no troops) to a Democratic country like Ukraine, that’s fighting for their very existence, is a small investment for a country like the US, that touts itself as being the “leader of the free world”. Is that just talk?

CodyBigdog

Try reading. i never said anything like that.