Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueblaze
According the evening news, the body count's now up to 40, and I'm feeling a lot worse about my comments about this storm. But it still almost seems a joke to call it "unsurvivable", after what I saw during 20 years in Houston and three cat-5 storms.
There, I saw entire communities simply vanish in storm surge on three occasions. I saw entire forests mowed down by 150mph winds. I helped friends clean out from 3' of water in their home even though they were miles from any flood zone. A million homes were destroyed from burst pipes on one simple 10-degree day, when they had to shut down the nuclear reactor that powers the Oil Capital of the World, because the cooling water pond froze over. In fact, we lost power for more than three 3 weeks on four separate occasions, from various weather disasters. With Harvey, I had 36" in my rain gauge in two days and couldn't leave the house for a week. Flood waters lapped at my foundation on that one, which was bermed a foot above ground, but luckily the water never entered the house.
And yet, even though my insurance company, Allstate, dropped me when they left the state, the insurance premiums on my home, which escaped unscathed through all that death and destruction, never even made it to HALF what I pay here, for a 20-year-old concrete-and-steel bunker, rated for 110mph, the same distance from the ocean as my 20-year-old brick-and-pine home with single-pane windows and no wind rating whatsoever, in Houston. And that house sold for enough to buy TWO houses in the Villages.
Nevertheless, I am sorry if my previous flippant attitude offended anyone.
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So, having lived through your lots of devistating storms, you must understand that not all damage occurs in beachfront properties, but you blame them for living there and rising insurance costs!!!
Hugo hit Charlotte, 4 hours inland from the coast of NC years ago.
Currently, everyone in "the mountains", yes, The foothills of the Great Smoky Mts., Asheville, NC (7 hours inland) was ordered a "mandatory evacuation" in anticipation of expected flooding.
I don't believe anyone was
"Offended" dude.
What an overabused word. Our egos are strong enough not to be "offended" by anyone's cavelier remarks.
But SMH, saying, Where's the freaking intellect and compassion in our society, anymore?"
I having the experience of 20+ hurricanes in the south, we also know they are extremely unpredictable when coming in over warm waters and can take a turn from the gulf stream waters very quickly. One should NEVER think they know there is no threat.
Hugo was headed for the coast of NC and No Models predicted what it would eventual do- skip right over Wilmington & Raleigh and blast Charlotte. No accorn left on the trees there.