Parts of Florida have many pluses for retirees - not this week though (housing, smart)
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I'm fine with the government offering assistance to home owners who have lost their homes and personal possessions. Some of those people have lived in their homes for years and years only to have their flood insurance dropped suddenly or the rates raised so high that they couldn't afford to pay it. They chose to stay in the homes and communities that they knew and loved.
Those people I can see helping. But the non local investors who chose to invest heavily in coastal real estate, running up real estate prices for everyone else - no. I don't think that they should be compensated.
I’ve got a problem with policies that bailout ‘new’ home owners near these risks and those climate change can impact with rising sea levels. How to do it is complicated but I don’t understand this encourage density near large water bodies subjects to either or both these risks.
”Incredible timelapse video shows 15-foot storm surge from Hurricane Ian completely wipe out Fort Myers - as officials say it will remain without power for at least a month”
• Footage shot over several hours but neatly edited into a two-and-a-half minute video catches a stretch of highway close to the beach before the 15 foot storm surge came ashore washing away wooden buildings
• It is an apocalyptic scene for the residents of Fort Myers some of whom must know that they may never return to the place they once called home
I have never experienced a fire evacuation and I hope I never do. I suppose if you have plenty of time to get out of the area and the fire isn't actively encroaching on you, it wouldn't be as stressful.
As far as Northern Virginia goes, you might be surprised to learn that the DC area actually does get hit by hurricanes some years. They are generally Cat 1 by the time they get over Northern Virginia, but the damage can still be pretty bad. For one thing, the trees and plants are not meant to withstand hurricane force winds, so there are a lot of downed trees and power lines in a bad storm. Also, the buildings/homes aren't up to hurricane code so there can be some structural damage even in a Cat 1 storm.
In 2003 hurricane Isabel rolled through the area taking out electricity and water in some areas, including Springfield, VA.
As far as Northern, VA - I know they can hit but rarely do - lived there about 2 years and it was never much concern with hurricanes there, nor was it when lived in other eastern cities on the beach, because normally much lower intensity and more predictable path and rarely hit with much impact - it is in the Gulf and Florida that these storms are more frequent, more intense and less predictable that it becomes more stressful. Our house in NOLA was several feet below sea level and just blocks from the mississippi river and the levees - the concern is major damage and significant flooding and not just downed trees or power outages.
I have lost power and other services more than a few times, in NOLA it was often a couple of times a year. In CA they cut power in high wind as a preventative so that fires do not get started.
I had family in Punta Gorda for a while, which is not far from Fort Myers (we would fly into Regional Southwest in FM when we visited). They got whacked by Charley in 2004, and when I visited a year later, there were still blue tarps on roofs and bent light poles. The building in which my former SIL's tea shop was houses was one of the news pictures, totally destroyed.
I was curious as to how they fared this time out, and so I Googled "Punta Gorda damage from Ian" and found this article, which was rather positive:
But once the storm passed, the sight of Punta Gorda may have surprised some people. While it had typical post-hurricane storm debris, downed trees and several flooded streets, a number of homes and buildings appeared largely intact and many showed only minimal damage to their exteriors.
It attributes the minimal damage to updated building codes designed to withstand storms.
”Incredible timelapse video shows 15-foot storm surge from Hurricane Ian completely wipe out Fort Myers - as officials say it will remain without power for at least a month”
• Footage shot over several hours but neatly edited into a two-and-a-half minute video catches a stretch of highway close to the beach before the 15 foot storm surge came ashore washing away wooden buildings
• It is an apocalyptic scene for the residents of Fort Myers some of whom must know that they may never return to the place they once called home
Springfieldva has noted that investors buying up properties to use as Aribnb or VRBO rentals have driven up Florida real estate prices, and she is right.
That's a common misconception. Academic research of actual data shows it is not true. "Outside investors" make for a convenient boogeyman, but the data show outside investors are not the major factor.
Why ignore the fact that insurance has been driven sky high in those areas if it's available at all.
Why do you keep changing the topic? Let me try one more time.
WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO COULD HAVE BOUGHT FLOOD INSURANCE, BUT DECIDED NOT TO BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY DIDN"T NEED IT AND FIGURE THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD JUST BAIL THEM OUT ANYWAY???
Quote:
Originally Posted by springfieldva
Some of the homes have been in those areas for decades. Not everyone who owns a couple of coastal homes is rich.
When I was reading about Florida flood insurance costs, I was surprised to see they were 1/3 what I pay in NJ. I think it said the average was about $600 a year.
Very, very cheap. And some cheapskates decided not to purchase flood insurance and to take their chances.
We are < two miles from the Gulf in flood zone X, the 500 year storm designation. They are calling this a 500 year flood. Our FEMA flood insurance is over $700, it was $400 10 years ago.
Very, very cheap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jean_ji
Flood insurance for homes on the water are astronomical and many go bare (no insurance) playing the odds.
That's not a risk I would be willing to incur, but I suppose a wealthy person might.
Taxpayers should not bail out the self-insured.
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