What's with hurricane season?

[mickthecactus]

Good point Kimby.

[casimira]

Viewing the YouTube video of Sanibel and Fort Meyers I was astounded by how over developed they are. Virtually no beach left save a sliver even at low tide. I thought that my neck of the woods on Long Island was bad. But, given that it's a barrier island I also am able to make a comparison to Grande Isle here in Louisiana and how over developed it is and how year after year the amount of erosion over the years it's barely recognizable from what we remember as we used to go there for a quick getaway.
I also compare it with Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola and how they wiped out from one of the storms in the late 90's-early 2000's.
Then, there is also South Beach, Miami. Reduced to a small strip along Ocean Drive.
What were they thinking would happen?

[Kimby]

Casi, the east end is indeed overrun with condos, though none are over 4 stories tall. The further west you go on Sanibel, the less dense the development. And in fact, over 65% of the land area of Sanibel is preserved open spaces. Our place is in an area surrounded by refuge land.

[bixaorellana]

Has anyone heard from Huckle? Hope she was in Paris while Ian raged.

Kimby, I was in Texas & my brother in law kept giving me updates on the storm & its damage, since I used to live in North Fort Myers. One report from him was that Sanibel was "flattened". I'm very encouraged to see the video you posted. Because I've lived in a storm surge area, I sort of understand what is shown & believe that your house may have sustained minimal damage, although I also understand that is scant comfort to you right now.

Oct 1, 2022 22:12:37 GMT Kimby said:

Does it make sense to even rebuild on these barrier islands and shoreline cities?

When I lived in northern coastal North Carolina, all our tv news came from Norfolk, Va. Every single time there was any kind of storm, there would be video of the ground washing out from under the pilings of houses on Virginia Beach, along with exclamations of surprise and shock. My cynical thought was that they knew those houses were built on barrier land. Even the Bible speaks of the foolishness of building on sand. As far as shoreline cities, though, it's a whole other consideration. Many if not most of those cities were built and grew up when conditions were quite different from now, so were at less risk. Even though sad, it is possible for residents of beach property to collect their insurance and relocate. The idea of abandoning an entire city is overwhelming, both in economic and human terms.

[lugg]

Hope your house is ok Kimby . Any up dates ?

Oct 3, 2022 19:20:33 GMT bixaorellana said:

Has anyone heard from Huckle? Hope she was in Paris while Ian raged.

Yes hope you are ok Huckle ?

[casimira]

I inquired after Huckle in an earlier post and there was no response despite having seen her logged in during the last 48 hours or so.

I don't believe that her area was greatly affected based on first-hand accounts from a dear friend nearby where Huckle resides.

Heavy rainfall amounts I am guessing.

Edited to add that she was logged in an hour ago from this post.

[questa]

Hang in there, Huckle, We are thinking of you!

[casimira]

I see that the death toll is increasing every day as the rescue workers go door to door. Shades of the aftermath of Katrina. Some houses here still have the spray-painted X's on them and some of the enterprises, restaurants that we frequent have a mark showing how high the water level was before it eventually receded.

Now they are having to deal with looters. No surprise there but De Santis has made it very clear that Florida is a 2nd amendment state.

[Kimby]

Oct 3, 2022 19:40:27 GMT lugg said:

Hope your house is ok Kimby . Any up dates ?

No word yet. Causeway was destroyed so no way to get out there except by boat. “Pirates” with boats are charging $1800 to take people out there. (Gotta love capitalism!). 24 hour curfew till tomorrow when the first boats will be allowed, 7am to 7 pm. No overnight stays.

Power system is destroyed and will take awhile to repair. AFTER they figure out a way to get their equipment out there. Barges are being brought in for the purpose, but since the causeway is in pieces in the bay, they have to clear a navigation channel first.

Private vehicles will not be able to access the island till there’s a temporary causeway in place. Ferry service isn’t an option till they can locate suitable docks on each end. Roads are covered with glass and nails and no place to fix flat tires.

Water and sewer systems are down, but they’re working on them. No timeline announced.

24 hour police and national guard surveillance to discourage looters (pirates) who come by boat.

It’s a clusterf*ck, and we shoulda seen it coming.

As 2nd homeowners, we have the luxury of sleeping in our own bed and watching from afar while we calculate what to do. Our friends and neighbors have no other home and are desperate to get out there and see if their house and possessions are salvageable. They have graciously offered to check out our place as well at least from the outside. (The hidden key has likely washed away.)

When the power grid comes back, they will energize one house at a time, after making sure it’s safe. Many meters were submerged and will need replacing. Our AC is 3’ off the ground, so probably ruined. So mold will be a big issue, even if our living area stayed above the surge. A big if. (Might actually have been easier if the whole thing had been swept away by the storm surge. At least we wouldn’t be responsible for demolition when 1000’s of others will need to hire deconstruction/hauling services.)

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans!

[Kimby]

Oct 4, 2022 13:43:53 GMT casimira said:

I see that the death toll is increasing every day as the rescue workers go door to door. Shades of the aftermath of Katrina.

At yesterday’s video update, officials said the “door-knocking phase” of looking for survivors is over. Now they will be making a second sweep sniffing for decay to find victims…(!)

Now they are having to deal with looters. No surprise there but De Santis has made it very clear that Florida is a 2nd amendment state.

On sanibel there will be little to deter looters as the island is essentially abandoned.

[casimira]

Again, shades of Katrina as I recall that stench in some neighborhoods that I had gone into in my little convertible at the request of some people I knew who wanted to know the status of their property.
It also manifested itself because of animals who had been abandoned and perished in many homes. 
Also, refrigerators that were put out curbside. We were supposed to empty the contents, but many people did not.
I found brand new pieces of clothing in our back yard from a nearby discount store that looters took and then decided they didn't want them.
I could go on and on...

Kimby, do you know of a particular charity that you could recommend donating to? I have some misgivings about the Red Cross as I remember there was a lot of corruption going on with stolen funds etc. Things may have changed over the years, but I am still wary of them.

[mickthecactus]

I know it’s not your main home Kimby but it’s still a nightmare. I had to see to my daughter’s house after her fire and trying to coordinate it all was horrendous.
My sympathies for you.

[lugg]

It all sounds really awful Kimby. I don't know what else to say other than I really hope your house is ok and all others living there can salvage what they can and the looting is largely controlled. Really devastating

[Kimby]

Thanks friends. It’s a mixed blessing being 2300 miles away. We have a roof over our heads and a fridge full of food and closet full of clothes. We aren’t forced to look for alternate housing for months and years while we demolish and rebuild our home.

But, we also aren’t close enough to get on a boat and go see for ourselves what was done to the house and what might be salvaged and what needs to be disposed of, and to get in line for the limited contractors who can do all this work.

[fumobici]

I can't even imagine Kimby.

[Kimby]

We’re still having a hard time wrapping our minds around this sudden turn of events.

Today is D day. Three couples from our neighborhood have hired a boat to go check on their homes and have offered to check on ours as well. Should know more tonight.

Other neighbors who visited on Wednesday sent us some images that show the water was at least 6 or 7 feet deep, maybe deeper. We just have to hope our living area stayed dry on its stilts. If it did not, then our tenure as part time Sanibel residents may be coming to an end.

[Kimby]

BTW, it will be months before utilities can be restored. Everyone’s electric meter was submerged and will need replacing. Where do you get 1000’s of meters on short notice? Our main water valve is on an exposed copper water line that SEEMS to have survived the storm. Hopefully the house lines will be intact when we are able to turn the water on. Our AC was completely submerged and will need replacing, along with 1000’s of others. If we want to rebuild/remodel, if the cost to repair/restore exceeds 50% of the ore-hurricane value of the structure, we will have to raise the floor to the current code which is 3’ higher than the code when it was built. If the house is 51% damaged or unusable, it is considered condemned, and a tear-down. But we still have to hire people to deconstruct and haul it away.

A trying situation to be sure. Meanwhile Mr. Kimby is browsing real estate listings in Southern Utah…

[mickthecactus]

Insurance?

[kerouac2]

Southern Utah? Are you planning on converting?

[bjd]

Oct 8, 2022 15:12:36 GMT mickthecactus said:

Insurance?

Isn't a hurricane considered an "act of God"? Or does that concept still exist?

[kerouac2]

I think it is usually a question of "water damage" insurance which is unaffordable. You have to prove that your house blew down before it was washed away, and that is nearly impossible.

[mickthecactus]

Oct 8, 2022 18:05:27 GMT kerouac2 said:

I think it is usually a question of "water damage" insurance which is unaffordable. You have to prove that your house blew down before it was washed away, and that is nearly impossible.

Indeed. It’s called proximate cause. Your claim is based on that.

[mickthecactus]

Oct 8, 2022 17:15:21 GMT bjd said:

Oct 8, 2022 15:12:36 GMT mickthecactus said:

Insurance?

Isn't a hurricane considered an "act of God"? Or does that concept still exist?

Well it doesn’t here but I’m not familiar with US insurance.

[htmb]

When I owned a beach house on a barrier island to the north of Sanibel, off Sarasota, I had regular homeowners insurance, purchased through a private company, plus wind and flood policies purchased via a state program. All three were expensive, but necessary.

[Kimby]

Yes, to be fully protected you would need three policies: homeowners, wind (Citizens) and Flood (FEMA?). We carried all three for years, but the coverage wasn’t great, low maximum payouts, high deductibles, and if your house was elevated, nothing below the living level was covered. Plus the premiums kept going up.

So Mr. Kimby reasoned that for several years worth of premiums we could buy a new roof and hurricane shutters so we did that, dropping flood and wind coverage. We still carry Homeowners insurance and Umbrella Liability so if we are looted, or the place burns down, or someone falls through our steps, we’re covered. Our expensive new roof and shutters did save us from the wind, but no one expected so much storm surge.

No answer yet as to whether it got into our house 8’ off the ground. That’s what will determine whether we can reclaim our island home, or whether we’ll just walk away. We still have to clean up the mess either way, but I don’t have the heart to start from scratch at this stage of life.

[mickthecactus]

I’m really sorry. Can you sell the site?

[Kimby]

If anyone wants to buy it. Might take YEARS. But we probably need to clean it up to sell it. And our HOA and neighbors will want it cleaned up, whether we plan to return or not.

[Kimby]

Well, I THINK it’s good news.

Our neighbors on Sanibel were able to find our hideakey still safely stuck by magnet in its hiding place despite being under the surge for hours. The lower level lock was too full of salt or sediment to open, but they were able to get the front door unlocked and go in for a quick look. They said it wasn’t musty or wet, except for 2” of water in the kitchen sink. Hmm. Where did that come from?

The photos they took through the broken window of the lower level storage room/shop shows a jumble of furniture, lampshades, tools, and outdoor gear all in a tangled heap. (Might have to crawl through the hole the surge blew in the wall to unlock the door from inside, if it’s even possible to reach it.)

But we have hope that the house may be salvageable, so we are making plans to go down there next month, after they get the causeway reopened. They are working so fast to put a temporary bridge in place so work can begin to repair the storm damage and haul away the vegetative and structural debris. The photos show devastation of our tropical jungle, yet the many palms are largely fine, and everything grows really fast. Unless the saltwater incursion has poisoned them....the agricultural past of Sanibel was ended by a storm surge that killed off the lime orchards in the 1920’s.

[kerouac2]

Seems like it is excellent news about your house.

[fumobici]

Sounds like you may have gotten pretty lucky. Hope you did.