knew this was coming and just the tip of the iceberg of jobs lost this season for Sanibel/captiva area South Seas Island Resort to lay off nearly 240 employees due to damage from Hurricane Ian (msn.com) After a walloping by Hurricane Ian, South Seas Island Resort on Captiva is laying off nearly 240 employees. In a notice to the state, Marsha Michael, the resort's director of human resources, said the damages from Ian are severe, resulting in the "cessation" of operations "for the foreseeable future." The number of affected employees is 238. The state requires companies to file a notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act when they plan to lay off 50 or more employees. South Seas is the first employer to do so in Southwest Florida, in the wake of Ian.
Inevitable and sad. Buddy of mine said his bank is giving somewhere between 250-500k to continue to pay employees at severely damaged branches down there.
Ritz Carlton Naples just cut 500. Local market should be able to absorb it with such low unemoyment here.
Feeling validated. Mike of Mike’s Weather Page, who my wife has watched for years, is going big time. Love Mike, but sadly the exposure is the result of the storms Among the bright race cars touting beer and snack companies, there will be an outlier Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway. The No. 4 car will be wrapped in blues and blacks, with a swirling hurricane engulfing its sides. On top of the massive storm will be the all-too-familiar red hurricane symbol pasted on the passenger and driver doors. Mike’s Weather Page has 1.3 million likes on Facebook and nearly 200,000 followers between Instagram and Twitter. The page has gone beyond just tropics and models, and has shifted to a place to go for commentary and storm chasing. Famous Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore (the man you don’t want reporting near you in a storm) once called the page a one-stop shop for the tropics, Boylan said. “It’s opened up a ton of doors for me, including this NASCAR gig,” Boylan said. Tampa Bay’s Mike’s Weather Page to have NASCAR race car in Daytona Tampa Bay’s Mike’s Weather Page to have NASCAR race car in Daytona - Tampa Bay Times For more great content like this subscribe to the Tampa Bay Times app here:
updates from SW Fl. Ft Myers Beach, Sanibel, and Captiva are still removing debris. everywhere else is cleaned up for the most part (some boats still stranded in places)and the debris haulers are finally leaving. those FEMA cleanup contracts must be worth a fortune. Lots of those guys seem to work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day for months on end. Likely able to make a year income in 3 months Property sales on FB are old timers moving out and new money buying up what they can. the character of FMB will change. Naples is rebuilding with some beachfront locations open and others undergoing major ground floor renovations. Similar on Sanibel but slower. People with resources are mostly rebuilt while old timers or worker people are slower to rebuild as they didn't have the cash reserves and the insurance battle over flood vs wind continues to play out. we finally got our roof stripped last week, awaiting inspections prior to new roof installation. New shingles are rated to 200 MPH. Old rook went through 5 hurricanes with Irma going right over our house before Ian finally did some damage but Ian sat and blew for a while. old trailer parks in south Ft Myers that were flooded seem stuck in limbo. feels like property owner is encouraging lease holders to sell out to try and consolidate the properties. not familiar with the issues but the progress in those areas is very slow.
Wife and I did some volunteer clean-up work in Cape Coral a couple weeks after the storm. Saw areas where only streets flooded to areas with several feet of water into homes. Nasty work mucking out decades old carpet and soaked bedding for old timers, but felt obligated to pass it forward since volunteers from as far as South Carolina helped clear my yard after Michael. It has been 4-1/2 years since Michael and there are still lots of places in PC that haven’t recovered. It’s a very long process. Our trees up here won’t recover for decades.
Big shout out to Amica insurance. Maybe it was my high deductable or 25 years without a claim thru a dozen or so hurricanes, but they have been great to deal with. Had renters insurance with them before moving to ownership so likely 30 years of premiums with no claims. They have responded fast and funded the claim with no problems
Took the boat out today and fished some waters we haven't visited since Ian. This porsche was at least half a mile from any houses or roads. No idea how it could have crossed that much water unless it was buoyant for quite a whole
Lots of volunteer folks camped at a city park that had temporary showers and ports-potties lined up. Wife and I actually were in Winter Haven in a hotel Friday night at another function but got up early and rendezvoused with other volunteers at 8 Saturday morning in Cape Coral. The organizers had lists of folks that had requested help and our team was assigned four homes to work on. Removed wood fence and a destroyed pool enclosure at one. Spent hours cutting trees and hauling them to the curb at the second. Put tarps on the roof at #3. Mucked out carpet (nasty… dude had apparent free-range cats), beds, and cut/removed wet dry wall at the last one. It was a grueling day. Left for a hotel in Wesley Chapel well after dark. One of the longest and most tiring days of my life…but worth it.
this is insulting. Congress has failed to qualify Ian as a qualified disaster so that tax benefits related to costs incurred from Ian are not available to victims of the storm Southwest Florida taxpayers upset after Congress said Ian is not a qualified disaster for taxes (yahoo.com) Mon, February 27, 2023 at 7:08 PM EST On Monday, a day shy of 5 months since Hurricane Ian, taxpayers across Southwest Florida told Fox 4 they're angry they cannot deduct Hurricane Ian's damages on their taxes. Guest Commentary: Congressional action needed on Ian losses | News, Sports, Jobs - Pineisland Eagle (pineisland-eagle.com) Hurricane Ian was the most financially devastating hurricane to ever hit Florida and it has caused over $100 billion of damages to homes and businesses. Many of us have not received insurance reimbursements, and others have only received a fractional portion of losses. Taxpayers have the potential to receive significant income tax relief by claiming a casualty loss on their 2022 income tax returns (or their 2021 returns if a special election is made.) The rules involving deductions relating to unreimbursed property damage caused by a casualty loss hinge on what type of casualty is incurred. The last major hurricane to impact our area was Hurricane Irma, which was given special designation by Congress as a “Qualified Casualty Loss.” As a result, taxpayers adversely impacted by Hurricane Irma were able to maximize their loss deductions. Unfortunately, Hurricane Ian has NOT yet been designated as a qualified disaster by Congress. I urge all Florida homeowners to contact their Senator Rick Scott, Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Byron Donalds to advise them that we need our elected representatives’ help in order to recoup losses from this major disaster. A form should be submitted through their websites. Casualty losses are determined based on the damaged property’s fair value immediately before and immediately after a disaster such as a hurricane. Hurricane Ian is the most serious storm to impact our area since Hurricane Irma and the most damaging in Florida history. Unfortunately, the tax deductions currently available relating to Hurri-cane Ian expenses are much less ad-vantageous than those made available after Hurricane Irma. Congress designated Hurricane Irma a qualified disaster, which meant that casualty losses would be subjected to only a $500 expense recapture. Since Hurricane Ian has not been designated as a qualified disaster, taxpayers must deduct 10 percent of their adjusted gross income (“AGI”) plus an additional $100 from the amount that would have been their casualty loss.
Saw this from earlier in the month where the Board of Lee County Commissioners is deciding what to do about the Sanibel Causeway: "The talks are long-awaited as the causeway has needed to undergo repairs since Hurricane Ian continuously." (emphasis added) "Bike lanes and pedestrian access remain closed, as well as the causeway island where many people used to enjoy the water." "The repairs will be a combination of solutions presented by the Florida Department of Transportation. It includes permanent repairs like base restoration and adding buried sheet pile walls to improve the infrastructure and resilience." "There is also a plan to widen bike lanes and add green infrastructure like mangroves." I will always have a soft spot for the area having owned a timeshare at South Seas for MANY years. Sold it six months before Ian for twice what I paid for it (pretty amazing for a time share.) I've reached out to the owners several times, they live in Atlanta and are handling it well. Ian barely touched the building. Charley, when I owned it, trashed it. The good thing about Charley at least was that the building was stripped down to the wall studs. Everything was brand new, only the silverware was reused.
And yet Congress still hasnt classified it as a qualified disaster to provide any tax relief for people who lost more than insurance covered. If Ian doesn't meet the requirements I dont know wtf would. The legislation was just introduced March 1 2023 so I either file for an extension and hope it passes or file taxes and have to file for a revision if/when it does pass. My guvnr is too busy fighting drag queens to push for this legislation to have been approved already. My representative in the house is too busy licking trumps boots to get it done and my senators just apparently don't give a chit