Charleston Living (Summerville, North: insurance, home, buying)

[Luvsdabeach]

Originally Posted by charlottePA

True, I would never live in St. Stephen. Or Jamestown. Jamestown has what, like 80 people living there. Seriously. But the OP wants to move to Orangeburg. In comparison, any of these pine-flat towns between are probably paradise.

Excellent point on Hugo. Caught Charlotte flat-footed.

A good hurricane could be GOOD for Charleston. You know, a good flushing out every 20 years helps the construction industry, and leaves behind the people that REALLY want to call SC home

Actually there is more than 80 people. Lots of family land there so when kids grow up they stay. It seems a good many people are taking a look at Orangeburg so it may be the next hotspot for people to move to. I personally wouldn't move there because it's too far from the beach. lol

After Hugo hit I saw lots of shotty construction and repair people taking money and not doing the work. If another Hugo type storm hits there is going to MUCH more damage than what we saw when Hugo hit because of the population growth along the coast. I believe the cost would go into the billions, our insurance could go as high as Florida's and many insurance companies would pull out of the coast just like they did after Hugo.

[littlelou]

I have to laugh everytime I read the "HURRICANE' panic comment. As OP said, you generally have a week or more's notice, it's not like a tornado that can and does blow up in a matter of minutes,.

As a former resident of Kansas and having been through numerous tornados, I'll take my chances with a hurricane. Prepare and be sensible. follow the instructions and you'll survive. Be stupid and stay to "protect" your home and you may not. i know the odds are you'll be okay, but are possessions worth losing your life and that of your family members over? nope, not for me. Anything that valuable will be in the car with the cats, my photos, computer and my fanny, on the way inland.

[charlottePA]

Originally Posted by littlelou

I have to laugh everytime I read the "HURRICANE' panic comment. As OP said, you generally have a week or more's notice, it's not like a tornado that can and does blow up in a matter of minutes,.

As a former resident of Kansas and having been through numerous tornados, I'll take my chances with a hurricane. Prepare and be sensible. follow the instructions and you'll survive. Be stupid and stay to "protect" your home and you may not. i know the odds are you'll be okay, but are possessions worth losing your life and that of your family members over? nope, not for me. Anything that valuable will be in the car with the cats, my photos, computer and my fanny, on the way inland.

Excellent post. I laugh. I sat through Hugo. Remember walking about during the eye. And I remember the old Sullivan's Island and IOP with the run-down shabby elegance and workaday houses. Now the millionaires own it and want to worry about hurricanes, errosion (IOP) and building in the critical zone. Another piece of advice (unsolicited of course): cut down every pine tree within crash distance of your house. They'll snap like twigs during a big blow.

[TheKellyn]

Originally Posted by luvs2fish

thekellyn,

What is considered a "sturdy" home?

We are considering a moving to the Charleston area from Southern CA. I agree that a disaster you can prepare for is better than something unexpected.

Are brick homes better?

luvs2fish

I'd say concrete block or poured concrete have better chances of surviving strong winded hurricanes. Those with lots of wood paneling never seem to fare as well.

[charlottePA]

Originally Posted by TheKellyn

I'd say concrete block or poured concrete have better chances of surviving strong winded hurricanes. Those with lots of wood paneling never seem to fare as well.

Clemson does a lot of research on this. There are actually wood products and engineered laminates and construction techniques with wood that will hold up to hurricane winds. They have a wind tunnel up there and build these model houses and blow 150 mph wind and 2x4's to see what will knock them down. Pretty cool stuff. When I was an engineer in a former life I remember visiting a home on IOP that was built with "model techniques". They had laminate wood beams about 2 feet think running through the house!

[appalachiangirl]

When my family visted SC a few years ago we stopped at Edisto Gardens and while we were there only a short time (in Orangeburg) someone smashed our car windows (and my parents didn't have a new or expensive car). Lucky they didn't steal the car! I don't think I'd want to live there--although I'm sure like any town it has a few nice areas.

[cgoggins]

Originally Posted by littlelou

I have to laugh everytime I read the "HURRICANE' panic comment. As OP said, you generally have a week or more's notice, it's not like a tornado that can and does blow up in a matter of minutes,.

As a former resident of Kansas and having been through numerous tornados, I'll take my chances with a hurricane. Prepare and be sensible. follow the instructions and you'll survive. Be stupid and stay to "protect" your home and you may not. i know the odds are you'll be okay, but are possessions worth losing your life and that of your family members over? nope, not for me. Anything that valuable will be in the car with the cats, my photos, computer and my fanny, on the way inland.

gimme a break . tornados please . a hurricane is a 6 hour tornado . with a front and a back. twisters anyday

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by innocence123

yeah i'm sure, but the elevation in orangeburg is close to 300 feet the elevation of summerville is 89ft summerville is 35 min from the coast while orangeburg is an hour and a half if a storm did come ashore the damage would be much worse in summerville than orangeburg. should i let hurricanes stop me from moving where i want? i would live in florida if i really could.

We lived through Hurricane Andrew in Miami Lakes (Northern Miami) in 1992 on the 4th floor of an apartment building. We had just moved to FL and by the time we figured out it would be good to evacuate, the turnpike and I-95 were parking lots. Very scary, but we made it. We sat in the hall all night with the wind howling around the building. A tree fell on my car and the complex lost lots of trees. We were inland about 35 min. We lost our power for about a week. My husband cooked scrambled eggs on one of those tiny 2' tall grills. He even made toast. Later we went through some smaller hurricanes a little farther north in So. Fl.

The worst now is the homeowners insurance, which is frightfully expensive. If you have a properly built home and hurricane shutters, you can survive them, but you must be PREPARED!

[joanie55]

Originally Posted by TheKellyn

WOW! I just moved to Charleston from South Florida and find that the cost of living here is FAR more reasonable than down there! As to hurricanes, I grew up in South Florida so I'm used to the hurricane season. As long as you prepare in advance and have a sturdy place to live you should be fine, honestly. Also, remember that with a hurricane you typically have a week or more to get the heck out of town if it's a big one. Having lived through some of the larger ones to hit Florida, I can honestly say that preparation and heeding warnings goes a long way. For me, it's a fair trade for living in such a glorious town. Besides, hurricanes aren't THAT prevalent.

Saw your post and wondered if you thought people were alot friendlier in SC than in south FL. I currently live in south FL and would like to relocate to Charleston. Could you give me some comparisions - attitudes, prices, beauty of beaches (I live in Palm Beach county), etc? Would really appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[joanie55]

Well I just now saw your message, 1 year later! SORRY. I'm still in se florida, unfortunately. I would say the people ANYWHERE are friendlier than here. and that leaves out the con artists - which are in abundance here and are, of course, very friendly. Hope you are doing well in Charleston!