What can we learn from Hurricane Sandy/NY+NJ's problems? (Tampa: insurance, hotel)

[BucFan]

I can imagine the mass chaos that our area would have if/when we take a direct hit.

For those watching, what are you learning from Sandy? The finger pointing, the long gas lines, the lack of food and water, no electricity to certain areas.

Wonder if our local and state gov't will be ready to handle the issues that NYer/NJites are facing.

---bottom line is to get the $### out of Dodge for a week or two if your job allows you to - drive up 500-750 miles up north, find a cheap hotel and live there for a few weeks until electricity, gasoline, grocery stores open up again and things get back to some normalcy.

[Tim Tim Tim]

Originally Posted by BucFan

I can imagine the mass chaos that our area would have if/when we take a direct hit.

For those watching, what are you learning from Sandy? The finger pointing, the long gas lines, the lack of food and water, no electricity to certain areas.

Wonder if our local and state gov't will be ready to handle the issues that NYer/NJites are facing.

---bottom line is to get the $### out of Dodge for a week or two if your job allows you to - drive up 500-750 miles up north, find a cheap hotel and live there for a few weeks until electricity, gasoline, grocery stores open up again and things get back to some normalcy.

don't move to a place that has 20 million people in a place the size of Hillsborough county is a start.

I would also say to get out of here if your close enough to the water to have that kind of flooding around you.

[BucFan]

I wonder also whether FEMA flood insurance might be a good idea even from people outside of the flood zone.

[Spring Hillian]

If the folks in the NYC metro area were less complacent and better prepared for the weather this would have been less of a problem. People there were warned for days ahead of time that a storm was coming. People who needed to take action to protect themselves failed to do so and are now suffering. Perhaps they will now learn something about being prepared and the need to stop depending on the government for everything.

[algia]

Not much I am afraid except that:

1. Mayor Bloomberg was warned back in September that something like this would happen, and he did NOTHING.

2. That IF you have enough money to buy a house, then you have enough money to buy a generator

3. If you have more than a week in advance to prepare, unlike in an earthquake scenario where you have NO TIME to prepare, and you don't get out, then don't be surprised at what happens.

4. FEMA should ONLY be concerned with the elderly, the sick, and welfare folks that don't have enough money to book a room somewhere else. When they evacuate, FEMA should already BE THERE to support this category. For everyone else, there really is NO EXCUSE not to get out when told, because now these people are endangering police officers, firemen etc because of their own stubbornness, and IGNORANCE towards mother nature. I have a very hard time feeling bad for those who could get out but chose not too.

5. The destruction of material items does not come as a surprise. NYC, and the "Up north" in general is made up of VERY OLD, 100+ year old buildings...what do you expect? nothing was ever updated to withstand such a storm. They don't have palm trees there that sway, they have 100 year old trees that are not meant to support hurricane force winds. They build a skyscraper here and one there, but show no concern for an 108 year old subway system, and all other basements.

6. NYU was warned years ago that they need to move their animals out of their basements and did nothing, and now they have YEARS, and YEARS worth of research LOST, that they have to start all over again; cancer research etc. Ton of money lost there.

7. The lesson to be learned is NOT TO RELY ON FEMA. And not because they can't support, but because it is YOUR responsibility to get out, and prepare, especially when you KNOW you're not in Florida that's used to such storm, and you know your house is 100 years old. It is NOT FEMA's fault people are completely and utterly complacent and ignorant. There was so much warning of this storm that nobody can say: "Ohh I didn't know"!

8. That is it INEXCUSABLE for a HOSPITAL to NOT PREPARE, in the case of one that had to transfer those NICU babies! It is inexcusable that they did not evacuate BEFORE the storm hit. Everyone who did not take the storm seriously is an ignorant, and I have no sympathy.

9. This gas shortage I have an even bigger problem with...there is enough gas in this country to supply us for a while, yet these folks did not prepare for emergencies. They had WEEKS advance notice. This didn't just happen like an earthquake.

10. People need to take responsibility not only for themselves, and for emergency personnel, but also for their pets! If you have a pet, its like you child, you are responsible for that pour soul. FEMA is going to rescue people, not pets. Be mindful of that.

This dependence on the Gov to jump and help when NATURE strikes is ridiculous. Home Depot, Lowes, and other stores provide tons of things for you to prepare with, it is not Gov's problem. Gov should be helping ONLY those who are not physically able to help themselves anymore, and those who have NO MONEY to buy supplies, or relocate temporarily.

I think the major thing that people need to understand is that they need to take personal responsibility for themselves, their pets, and whatever belongings they have, and not expect to NOT evacuate, and then endanger emergency personnel because they feel like it. You don't have a right to do that.

[algia]

i have a friend who lives in Land O Lakes, and her house is NOT in a flood zone, however her entire street was accessible by boat back in July when we had that huge rain event.


I think that if we buy a house again, we'll get flood insurance even though we're not in a flood zone, mainly because it is possible that those drains get clogged, so better to have it than not. IMO.

Originally Posted by BucFan

I wonder also whether FEMA flood insurance might be a good idea even from people outside of the flood zone.

[Sunscape]

This makes you re-evaluate everything when it comes to hurricanes. I used to live in NJ and many of the areas under water now were not on flood areas, as was the area where I came from.
I feel so sad for the people there.
Makes me think if you possibly can get away, you should.

[BucFan]

Our area will be worse off than the NY/NJ area. We have hundreds of thousands of elderly and poor in areas in St Pete, Bradenton, and in the poorer sections of Tampa. These people don't have financial resources for flood insurance, generators, or even enough money to jump in a car to drive 500 miles north. These are the people we're going to see on national news when a direct hit comes our way. These are the people who need to learn something from what we're seeing in NY/NJ.

[gypsychic]

Algia made a lot of good points that I agree with, so I won't reiterate there.

I will say that in the case of storms such as these I believe it is more advantageous to be living in a spread-out suburban type environment such as most of Florida is. The sheer mass of people living in all those old high-rises up north and depending on public transit made it almost crippling to leave or get to what they need. I am withing walking distance to gas stations, 7-11, restaurants and it's even only a mile to Publix who is equipped with a generator in a power outage. My little one story home is solidly built of concrete on a slab with terrazzo floors. We are two blocks from the bay, but in a storm event even with a surge the water here would recede rapidly back into the shallow bay, and the storm drain system here is excellent and was just updated. We also have good flood insurance.

It is an utter shame that it took such a calamitous event up north for those people to take it seriously. I feel heartbroken for them, and I don't judge them too harshly, because they just aren't used to having these and I can understand how they probably felt it would not have been a "big deal." From now on, however, anyone who does NOT take a storm threat seriously has no excuse. I guess hurricane Irene last year should have been a wake-up call for them.

[algia]

Don't forget all the mobile home parks by the water that don't even need a hurricane to flood, and get damaged. I personally think that is the WORST idea in existence today in Florida anywhere.

And this is precisely why I said that when they order evacuations FEMA should come there immediately, and help evacuate these people.

I think a few new evacuation centers should be built on higher grounds somewhere, and when we KNOW a storm like this will hit, FEMA should show up, and evacuate all these people. These centers should not be used for anything else, and should be able to relocate these people until they can have somewhere to go again. Up to 6 months. Just because they're old, and don't have money, that doesn't mean they deserve to die like this. That could be someone's grandmother...I could never picture my grandma in such a situation.

But you know what, at the same time though, they need to stop putting mobile homes in such low lying areas, because it becomes a revolving door issue that will never be solved. I am looking to SOLVE the problem, and NOT create the same problem every year wasting taxpayers money. Use tax payers money and solve the problem. Builders and developers should really take some time and offer some support, and be part of solving this problem for a change. You saw mansions in Jersey washed out...huge homes...ten times the size of a mobile home.

Originally Posted by BucFan

Our area will be worse off than the NY/NJ area. We have hundreds of thousands of elderly and poor in areas in St Pete, Bradenton, and in the poorer sections of Tampa. These people don't have financial resources for flood insurance, generators, or even enough money to jump in a car to drive 500 miles north. These are the people we're going to see on national news when a direct hit comes our way. These are the people who need to learn something from what we're seeing in NY/NJ.