Hurricane Relief

motorhead
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life
So, I’m already getting e-mails to donate money to hurricane relief funds

Should I take into consideration the median home price on Sanibel Island in August 2022 was $1.3 million? These are not residents of the Lower 9th Ward.

40 comments

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twentyfive
2 years ago
^ There are many other places besides Sanibel Island that the homes were old and small, the value by the coast doesn't match either the risk or what these folks that lived there paid for their homes.
Muddy
2 years ago
I don’t donate for shit. When the cashiers ask me if I would like to donate money to the poor kids I’ll tell her to tell those little fuck stains to burn in hell.
Cashman1234
2 years ago
I think there are a lot of folks who were hit hard by the storm. Those folks were likely from all economic levels, and many need urgent help.
motorhead
2 years ago
I’m not trying to be an uncaring prick.

Even the experts say this

“Jesse M. Keenan, a real estate professor at Tulane University’s School of Architecture. “We can’t build back everything to what it was — we can’t afford that.”
Warrior15
2 years ago
That professor is from Tulane. Tulane is in New Orleans. It wasn't worth rebuilding in New Orleans after Katrina and people didn't . Southwest Florida will rebuild.
Muddy
2 years ago
What’s that Sam Kannieson bit when he’s like YOU CAN LEAVE!!! MOOOVE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!!!!
twentyfive
2 years ago
The storms are getting bigger and more destructive, but at this point in time rebuilding is not in question, but it should be in some areas.
Muddy
2 years ago
Hey I wonder how Gammanau is doing he’s a Fort Myers guy
Icee Loco (asshole)
2 years ago
Basically they're saying the rich dint think rebuilding these communities is profitable for them
sexyloser
2 years ago
$1.3 mil property worth doesn't mean the homeowner is living some millionaire lifestyle especially with home prices nearly doubling in many places. A lot of people bought their homes 30+ years ago when homes were less than <1/3 of the current value as with repair/build costs.

Also, "millionaire" isn't nearly as rich as when that term was coined. Hell, I'm technically a millionaire due to home equity and I don't live some luxury lifestyle nor do I look nor feel rich even if I can afford some nice things here and there. The term "millionaire" was coined in the 18th century when a "million" was more equivalent to $30 million today.
Tiburon
2 years ago
So unless your worth $30M, your not a true millionaire? That sucks and here I am getting all excited because im close to one million dollars. Guess I'll go back to my man cave *sniff sniff*
Dolfan
2 years ago
Not to be too callous, but I'm kinda with you. A lot of the worst damage was to a lot of the wealthiest areas. Fuck donating to them. But places like Punta Gorda are hardly affluent. And a lot of them are generational, as in living in the house their parents got from their grandparents. People who if they lost that house, or trailer, would likely be homeless. Many of them cashed out or were forced to move after Charley, but plenty remain. There's also areas in the keys that got pretty severe flooding and they're the same mix economically, with some high value vacation or retirement homes mixed in with inherited ones the local working class residents will struggle to repair. Without those working class homes, the areas don't really survive. Someone's gotta work those hospitality jobs or no one can vacation there.

That area also serves as pretty good evidence that we can rebuild in a way that stands up to the weather. I agree in some areas it may not make sense, but there's plenty of homes that were rebuilt with modern codes that are basically fine. We just can't be idiots about it and have to rebuild in a way that acknowledges the power of the storms and the gulf.
whodey
2 years ago
A lot of the worst damage was in wealthy costal or island areas. However, most of the people that live in those high income areas also had plenty of insurance to cover their losses so that is not where reputable charities will be spending the money that is donated to them.

There were a lot of lower priced areas more inland that suffered serious damage as well. Many of those people either had minimal insurance coverage or in some cases no insurance. That is especially true of people that are renting a home and living paycheck to paycheck and often don't have renter's insurance.

That is why it is important to make sure that you donate to reputable charities that have a long history of handling their finances appropriately. Many of the charities that pop up after something like this just want to raise and distribute as much money as fast as possible without making sure it goes to those that truly need it the most.

The decision to donate or not is something each person has to make for themselves. I just hope that those who do chose to donate make sure they are giving it to the right organizations so it actually helps those in need.
Studme53
2 years ago
I’ll give. There’s a lot of poor people in FLA too.
chimera422
2 years ago
There are a lot of small businesses (not chain stores) in Sanibel that cater to tourists. Those people will need help rebuilding and just staying in existence until the tourists are back
conan_mac_morna
2 years ago
Reputable charities don't spam people begging for donations. I get 10-20 spam per day about Camp Fucking Lejeune since the settlement was announced, even though I'm not a Marine and wasn't part of the class action. Look up Red Cross or similar if you want to donate to Ian relief.

@Muddy those "would you like to round up for [local for-the-kiddies]" are bullshit. I asked a few of them how much money actually makes it to the stated beneficiaries: none. Not one fucking cent.
iknowbetter
2 years ago
I have people living and working in my company’s west coast FL offices, and I have been pretty close to the situation.

It’s all of the above. For sure, there are wealthy, heavily insured folks who will no doubt profit from their losses. There will also be a lot of insurance fraud, and no shortage of scammers who will take full advantage of this disaster.

However, there are also many, many more medium to lower income folks and fixed income retirees who have taken a huge loss, and have no means to recover. These people have nowhere to live, and cannot afford to rebuild their lives. You can say it’s their own fault for living in a trailer in a hurricane zone, or for not evacuating prior to the storm, or whatever. But these are (mostly) good people who are in a desperate situation now - regardless of who’s to blame, and are in desperate need of help.

I have been sending supply runs every other day to my west coast teams, to keep them going in the short term until things can get stabilized. So if you feel compelled to donate to relief causes, please do so. There is no shortage of need. If you don’t feel compelled to donate, that’s ok too. There is a lot of support coming in from all over. It will be a tough situation for awhile, but we will get through this.
twentyfive
2 years ago
There’s a lot of folks that think they’re insured, that are going to be going through hell trying to get their insurance companies to honor the policies.
It’s going to be years before some of these properties are repaired or replaced.
My advice is anyone that needs to file a claim do so immediately before some of these insurance companies have the opportunity to file for bankruptcy and be sure to get a competent insurance attorney or adjuster.
shadowcat
2 years ago
Florida already had a home insurance problem. 6 or 7 companies stopped and canceled all of their policies. Additionally flood insurance is usually a separate policy. If my insurance company has a lot of policies in Florida then I can expect another rate increase net year.
rattdog
2 years ago
the red cross? they're one of the biggest scumbags out there!!!!
twentyfive
2 years ago
^ as far as I know all flood policies in Florida are Federal and administered through FEMA, you have less to worry about getting your coverages honored from them then the myriad of private carriers
Florida also has the pool, but the coverages there are the most expensive and the most limited.
datinman
2 years ago
Good luck getting a Florida homeowner' insurance policy with a $500 deductible. Most are written with 2% or 5% deductibles. The wealthy can afford the rebuild. The poor will be subsidized. It's the middle class that will get hammered. Grandma's mobile home with no insurance. The people who bought a $285k home in a beach town 25 years ago that is now worth $750k. They are $15 - $37 thousand dollars out of pocket before insurance pays penny one.
iknowbetter
2 years ago
Precisely why I don’t carry windstorm coverage. I carry FEMA flood and regular homeowners. The windstorm premium would cost me $20K per year, with a $100K deductible. Problem is anyone with a mortgage is required to carry windstorm, in addition to their homeowners. Again to your point, the wealthy who do not rely on mortgages can make this choice, but for everyone else, insurance becomes unaffordable.
The big debate now will be whether a house was damaged by wind or water first.
crsm27
2 years ago
All flood insurance is backed or goes thru FEMA. So anyone who is doing a "flood" claim it goes thru the feds.

People are correct about the "wind" coverage in any coastal area's that get hit by hurricanes or tropical storms. It is sometimes a separate coverage or have $10K or more deductibles and premium. Plus like mentioned the premium on "roofs" or for wind is $10K a year or more. 2-3 years of not paying premium you have a new roof... well before this inflation and building supply crisis.

gammanu95
2 years ago
Hey Muddy, thinks for thanking of me. I did all right. The storm blew the screen doors off my lanai, removed a few shingles from my roof, and laid all my landscaping sideways, but not as bad as some of these other poor bastards. No storm surge, no trees fell on my house, no water damage. The generator did what it was designed to do, I have plenty of water, non-perishables, and gasoline. Actually, my power was back on less than 48 hours after the storm, internet too. My local Publix was opened by Friday. The biggest inconvenience I have had is that boil water order.

Sanibel and Fort Myers were wiped off the map, and I have very little sympathy for the rich man who built his house on the shifting sands. However, there were a lot of lower income communities which were devastated as well. The working, middle, and upper class incomes, particularly those with mortgages, will all have homeowners and storm insurance. Many of the lower income residents, especially multiple generations living in a single home as opposed to renters, will not have insurance. I would advocate entirely to donating to Hurricane Relief efforts. While it may make more sense to donate to private or NGO charities, I actually think relief efforts coordinated by FEMA may be valuable since it would include hiring individuals to do the hard, manual labor for the clean-up. There are enough watchdogs between DeSantis, the FL legislature, and other conservative whistleblowers that Kommiela's idiotic equity-based relief paradigm will not be implemented.
gammanu95
2 years ago
And yes, I did check out our three strip clubs this past weekend, and all were closed without power. I would have drank warm beer just to support them if they were open, but no luck.
gammanu95
2 years ago
It is factually false to state the storm are becoming more intense or larger. That is factually false. You are lying if you say that (Don Lemon), and you are a demented jackass if you believe it (25IQ). it is simply not true. Andrew is still the most powerful _recorded_ storm in Florida. Then you had the Okeechobee Hurricane, the Labor Day Hurricane, the Galveston Hurricane, and the Long Island Express before storms were named. All larger and more destructive than the recent spate. We have official records for only a few decades. So no, it is factually false to state that the storms are becoming more intense. Just shut the fuck up, you fucking morons.

Storms are becoming more destructive, but only because we are putting more and more expensive targets in their path. These are manmade disasters. If you want oceanfront property, sunset-view condos, beachfront patios, then you need to accept that it will be leveled by a hurricane at some point. It is inevitable. Katrina? Only so destructive because of the MRGO, New Orleans failure to maintain the canals, and building billions of dollars of below sea level. Ian? Only because people drained swampland and built multi-million dollar properties in place of mangroves on barrier islands. If people (mankind) made smarter environmental decisions, the destructive impact of these storm would be lessened.

end of sermon.
twentyfive
2 years ago
^ Instead of looking for an argument compare facts, there's nothing political about this, Hurricane-force winds for Andrew - a very tight cyclone - had a diameter of 50 miles compared to the much larger 240-mile diameter of Ian. is there really something to argue about Gamanu or do you just feel the need to be the prick we know you are.
So yes the storms are getting larger, Don Lemon has nothing to do with this, it's simply a fact.
Dave_Anderson
2 years ago
So only the "poor" ever deserve compassion or kindness?
datinman
2 years ago
"So yes the storms are getting larger"

25, I don't want to get into a climate change pissing match with you, but I lived on the Texas coast in the late 80s and I remember Gilbert being a monster storm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_…
twentyfive
2 years ago
I didn’t make any statements about climate change, my response was just a point that some jerk thinks everything is political and sometimes it’s just a simple observation lots of storms are getting worse maybe it’s climate change maybe not, the fact is Ian was five times the size of Andrew, cut a swath across the state that will like make this the largest natural disaster in Florida history
twentyfive
2 years ago
Little shrubby trying to remain relevant, what a sad tedious rant that was.
Studme53
2 years ago
Same people who watched An Inconvenient Truth and then wanted to ban fossil fuels got hysterical 40 years ago after watching China Syndrome and the nothing burger of 3 Mile Island and got the miracle of nuclear energy banned. It was “indisputable science” of “environmental intellectuals” then just like it claims to be now.
iknowbetter
2 years ago
I appreciate the healthy debate over climate change, but as I stated in another discussion last week, my family has lived in the same house in Miami Beach for 75 years, and it is an absolute fact that the water in Biscayne Bay gets deeper on my sea wall every year. I will eventually need to elevate my sea wall and dock - which of course is an absurd effort unless everyone on the island does the same.
Uprightcitizen
2 years ago
If you are on the coast you must accept the destructive variance of extreme weather. That's why insurance companies charge so much there and if you can't afford it you live in the wrong place.

It's not the climate is getting any more stable. Accept the risk or leave.
Icee Loco (asshole)
2 years ago
Accept the risk or leave? Or maybe support political and economic paths that lead to sustainable development .
gammanu95
2 years ago
25IQ has proven that he is not smart enough to consider the hundreds of documented cyclones that have been recorded, and insists on trying to cherrypick data from two disparate storms to prove an inherently false argument. Ian had a miniscule windfield compared to so many other storms in the past? Is this the best argument you have? Hey, remember that time you tried to argue that I hacked your account so I could disparage my own club reviews? LOL. You truly are a demented old fool. Thanks for the morning chuckle.
twentyfive
2 years ago
^ You’re welcome it’s so easy to make children laugh, I learned a long time ago arguing with fools isn’t worth the effort, neither are you.
gammanu95
2 years ago
Well, that's also a lie, isn't it? You cannot keep me on ignore. You put me on permanent ignore THREE times. We had a detente. I ignored you, you ignored me. First you took me off ignore, then you started adressing my comments in yours, then you resumed attacking me directly. I have no choice but to turn you back into my bitch. You must enjoy it. If you are really enjoying your retirement, and you don't want to argue with me, then put me on ignore, or at least stay the fuck out of my way. Otherwise, you're my bitch again, and I will determine what you think about, what you respond to, and how you spend your retirement.
gammanu95
2 years ago
Let's talk about that time you thought the Sokovia accords were a real thing that the United States signed to protect Ukraine from Russia and the Avengers.
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