Paradise Fire/Camp Creek Fire 11/08/2018 (Los Angeles, San Francisco: sales, salaries, maintenance)

[WouldLoveTo]

Originally Posted by Usrname

Regarding spots in the US with complete safety....I think there're a few quite safe places from natural disasters. Say, New England and Northern Midwest (parts close to Canadian borders). Colorado seems pretty safe from disasters, Idaho, Utah... All of them have cold climate in common. New Mexico?.

New England gets hurricanes, tornados and blizzards. We've had mild earthquakes too, though I rate them way down on the danger list.

Northern New England may be more immune to all but blizzards, but it's cold. Really cold.

[Slytrix]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

Thanks, Usrname.
Tornadoes are a major concern, but I can't find a single spot in the US offering complete safety.
In Orange County we had many earthquakes and our insurance did not cover that. Here at least we have coverage for fires by Hartford.
Nita (mnita) posts here about Bella Vista and I trust her judgement. Her insurance is not that high and she is willing to deal with the occasional tornado.
I am old enough not to worry a great deal, the few years we still have will pass, one way or the other.
My wife has extended family in Colombia and she is willing to go back. My brother is begging us to return to Hungary. It is cheap and safe there, but I love this country and couldn't get used to anyplace else after living here since 1974.

Sorry you are going through this.

I live in Centerton AR and could almost hit Bella Vista with a rock. We bought last year and our home insurance is NOT expensive so don't add that to your worries.

This is a wonderful area to live.

[mgforshort]

Originally Posted by Slytrix

Sorry you are going through this.

I live in Centerton AR and could almost hit Bella Vista with a rock. We bought last year and our home insurance is NOT expensive so don't add that to your worries.

This is a wonderful area to live.

I was checking out Arkansas and WNC ( or western north carolina ) way before we left Orange County when I retired in 2015.
The main reason we did not move there was that I was uncomfortable moving all our crap 2000-2700 miles. As it is, our move in 2015, all 500 miles of it, cost us $ 6,200.
Now that problem has been solved, everything we own fits in a Hyundai SUV, with room to spare.
We are coming for sure. I will order a tornado shelter, pay for it, and let the winds come, who cares.
I'd love to live near Loch Lomond or any other lake in Bella Vista.

[Slytrix]

I live real close to Loch Lomond.

We are flying back to San Diego tomorrow. We split time between NWA (Northwest Arkansas) and San Diego. I just got a phone call and a text from San Diego Gas & Electric that with the strong Santa Ana winds there may be power outages.

I'm glad you are safe please keep us posted with how you proceed. See you in Arkansas

[LoriNJ]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

Thank you, Lori in New Jersey. And I'm super grateful to everyone offering good advice.
Lori: how do I find the public adjuster?

Years ago, I would have said look in the phone book... but only dinosaurs have phone books these days, or so it seems. You could Google "public adjuster near [insert city name]".

Someone else already posted this link, but it's another place to look: CAPIA - California Association of Public Insurance Adjusters

How did we find ours? The guy put his card in our door the morning after the fire! I guess they have police/fire scanners. At first, I was outraged and tossed the card in the recycling bin. Then I called the insurance company and spent my first endless amount of time on hold, being transferred, etc. Heh. I rummaged through the recycling bin, got the card out and called the guy. He and his partner were both pitbulls with the insurance company. In a good way, of course.

[LoriNJ]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

Wow, LoriNJ, I had no idea there were such people as public adjusters. That's excellent info. I don't expect my house to burn but you never know. I'm keeping that nugget of information tucked away, just in case. Thanks

I had never heard of them, either, until we had a fire.

[mgforshort]

Thanks Lori.
There are 30 agents on that list and the closest is in Oakland, 200 miles from us.
I will contact him if the problems become overwhelming. It must be difficult to conduct business with fax machine ( we don't have any) or by e mail when our Internet dies every 15 minutes here in this crummy motel.
I will update my experiences here, the good and the bad.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Usrname

My condolences for this horrible ordeal. I, myself, came close to moving to Paradise recently.
You mentioned moving to Northern AR now...curious, how would you estimate tornado danger there, say, compared to fire risk in North Cal foothills? I heard home insurance is very expensive in general tornado zone, and once, I had checked State Farm rate on a home in Northern AR: it was twice more than their rate for near-identical home in, Western WA or even NorthCal around Yreka (which is fire zone), which made me really wonder about the risks.
There's average home insurance rates map and it makes it look like this is one of the highest rates state (due to tornado risk?): https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/hom...state-b5ed.png

Rates absolutely are not high in most of NWA and for the most part it really isn't thought of as a tornado zone. There are many areas around that are, like OK and Texas. Our insurance rates here are no high at all or compared to Texas are not. We have 1700 sq ft, plus 250 sq foot glassed in sun room which is fully heae and A//C. The house is valued at about $180,000 and our insurance is right at 1000.00 a year. We carry a $1000 deductible.. Maybe to some that is high,to us it is cheap. I can't compare the rates to some parts of N AR, just the NW part of the state. The treat of a truly damaging tornado is much less then the fire danger anywhere in CA or anywhere is most o Ca.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

Thank you, Lori in New Jersey. And I'm super grateful to everyone offering good advice.
Lori: how do I find the public adjuster?

The most important thing right now of course is: you are safe. I can't imagine what you have one through this past 5 days. I only that God my parents are no longer here on earth. They would surely, been victims. Oh how they loved the old bridge which I know is not a thing of the past. I am sure homes are as well. Our granddaughter just sent us a picture of my step mom and her walking toward the Honey Run bride not long before my step mom died about 5 years ago.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by WouldLoveTo

New England gets hurricanes, tornados and blizzards. We've had mild earthquakes too, though I rate them way down on the danger list.

Northern New England may be more immune to all but blizzards, but it's cold. Really cold.

you are right: there is no place without the treat of some sort of natural disasters. Some places are just more prone than others.