Hurricane a'comin (Ian)

It was actually really great for our family, the owner of the trailer park hated my parents, he was a scummy slumlord and they knew their rights, he bought the trailer from them for more than it was worth undamaged to get rid of us and we went and lived in our first real house, and zoned for a good school.

 

Happy to hear. But I'm sure it didn't seem like good news in the immediate aftermath

 

Why did he hate your parents?

 

God's blessings are often like that

 

They pushed back when he tried to get money out of them for things that were covered in the rental contract (they owned the trailer, but not the lot). They were also very happy to educate others in the trailer park about their rights. A lot more services were provided while we lived there, great for the other residents, but the trailer park owner was very glad to get rid of my parents and the havoc they wreaked on his profit margins.

 

I thnk it is both. There are plenty of Florida residents that wont leave home no matter the conditions or what the weather services say.
However, I have a friend in FM that fits your description. He moved down 6 years ago, watched Irma from his balcony and thought he had experienced a hurricane. I told him otherwise and shared some of my experiences with Andrew, Wilma, Donna, etc, etc as a native but it didnt register. Early on, he even texted me good luck with the Cane when it was headed toward TB. I reminded him that he was also in the cone. Mid storm, we got a text from the wife that they were holed up in their bathroom, scared shitless.
They will never stay again. Lesson learned and thankfully with no injury.

 

More of an environmental problem to placate environmentalists. From a realistic perspective, manatees are going to avoid the noise and silt in search of grass beds that weren’t covered with sand. Common sense and cost/benefit analysis are being set aside to check boxes that take a lot of time to check. the fact that it was a manatee feeding area before 2 - 4 feet of sand and debris was placed on it shouldn't matter based on what it is now. we shouldn't need an aquatic survey of the area to be dredged and have a final restoration plan completed and approved to start dredging. We should be pumping sand back up on those islands and bridge approaches today with an understanding to not dredge below a certain depth and a seagrass restoration plan to follow based on best practices.

 

I'm not going to disagree with you because you seem to have very specific expertise which I lack. But I am generally sympathetic to the other side. That said, what you say makes sense.

I'm still waiting for an explainer on why the Myakka River overflowed two days after the storm passed through. I don't know if it's a watershed that draws and all of the excess rain, much of which was far away to the northeast, as well as the storm surge. I'm dying that find an explainer on that.

 

yes, large volumes of sheet flow water that take time to accumulate. 1000's of acres of cattle fields with a foot of water on them trying to drain. 383k acres total. Note that natural areas includes "rangelands", ie cattle fields. I have little doubt that any ag fields that flooded were being pumped dry with every pump they could salvage but not familiar enough with ag in the region to confirm

CH-SWIM-PlanDraftFinal-v2.5-May-2020.pdf (state.fl.us)

 

I think that about covers it. It takes a while for the rain to find its way down to the river, and there was a lot of rain. Peace River as well.

 

Thanks - that is incredibly interesting

 

I agree - very informative

 

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but didn't get a chance. We had my mom drive down from St Pete down to Fort Lauderdale to stay with us when it looked like Tampa area might take a direct hit. She stayed the week, and left around noon on Saturday. She figured she'd take I-75 back, since it had been long enough for primary roads to be cleared of trees/debris. In theory, at least... At 430, she called me in a borderline panic. She'd been directed off the interstate (closed due to the delayed flooding), and had been stuck in traffic for hours. And even though she set out with a full tank of gas, she was below a quarter tank. And in an area where gas was not readily available. Not good. Google maps was pretty useless, with vague warnings of "potential flooding" on any suggested route. She was on 17 in Arcadia, and trying to figure out how to get from there to St Pete. She had tried a couple of routes out of town, and encountered deep water and turned back. She happened to spot the police station in Arcadia, and asked about open routes. They told her literally the only safe way out of Arcadia was 70 east to Lake Placid. So she drove there, and was finally able to get some gas. Then some combination of 27/98 north and over to Lakeland and I-4. She made it home around 9pm.... NINE HOURS for what would normally be about 3.5 hours.

 

Wow - that was a lot. We fortunately travelled Thursday and it looked bad then. Thanks again for the restaurant suggestions - first rate!

 

Looks like fewer electric cars in Florida's future.

Electric vehicles catching fire in aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Florida official warns

NAPLES, Fla. (TND) — Electric vehicles are creating a new challenge for firefighters and first responders in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis warned Thursday that as electric vehicle (EV) batteries corrode, fires begin. Sharing a video of firefighters in Naples putting out a smoking vehicle, he said there are "a ton" of EVs currently disabled from the storm.

A person can be heard saying the vehicle has already been doused with 1,500 gallons of water, and yet the fire is still going. In a follow-up tweet, Patronis said "it takes special training and understanding of EVs to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely."

 

looks like they are going to truck material in rather than dredge. the fleet of trucks running from the pits to the bridge are sucking up all the trucking firms around here. new expectation to open causeway to limited traffic by end of October to allow for reconstruction efforts on the island to move faster. That has to assume that they do not find any scour damage to the bridge pilings that require pile replacement. Temporary ferry services being set up to get utility crews to the island in the meantime

Has work started on the Sanibel Causeway? Florida awards contract for bridge repairs (msn.com)

 

Political pandering?

Obviously it’s not good for ANY car to be submerged in gulf water. Probably a “total loss” for most cars parked along the flooded gulf of SWFL, whether ICE or EV. Not sure how much the increased risk of fire is. One anecdote doesn’t mean cars are bursting into flames left and right. I guess it’s fair to say the fire depts and junk haulers need to know what to do to handle EV’s, no doubt some special handling is required. It’s a “chemical fire”, so just dousing with water may not be the correct thing to do.

 

My neighbor lost 7 ridge tiles on her roof. 12 year old roof. Said she had no leaking. Saw two young guys assessing the damage. She told me she needs a new roof. I asked her to please get a second opinion before doing anything. She had even told me that they were going to handle the insurance claim.

Maybe she needs a roof and maybe she doesn't but it sure seems like they followed the playbook that got us into this insurance crisis...

 

the part about we will handle the insurance company screams insurance fraud from the get-go. Make sure she gets their state license numbers, insurance certifications, and knows that if she ends up with no deductible that she is criminally liable for fraud regardless of what the hucksters might tell her. I have had two companies offer to "help me" with my $15k deductible. I guess I'm stupid because I am going to eat my entire deductible and go with a local roofer I trust.

With respect to the roof, it may need to be replaced because many insurers are refusing to issue policies on roofs over 10 years old. Depends on her insurer

also, the state has a matching tile rule that if the existing tiles cannot be closely matched, the entire roof is covered. This is stupid and drives up insurance rates as the roofers will calim they cannot match without even trying and there are too many for the insurers or state to check

 

That sounds exactly like an AOB situation. Tell her do not sign anything from someone who says they will handle the claim.