Hurricane Ida
 

I can't imagine the trepidation and fear of staring down the barrel, of what is predicted to be a Cat 4 right before landfall. Here is hoping that at least the loss of life is minimal, even though the loss of property - is probably going to be pretty significant.

My Dad handled catastrophes for Fireman's Fund. Must be a lot to deal with in so many ways.

To add insult to injury it's coming on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina which was only a category 3. I hope they are better prepared this time. :pray:

"Better prepared" AND that the emergency response is much better this time (the bar is pretty low there). General Honoré, dust off your uniform and hopefully you'll be allowed to get there sooner this time.

A Cat 5 hit Florida not that long ago I believe.

I sincerely hope no one in New Orleans gets hurt or has their property damaged. However, if there is major damage, I hope taxpayer money is not again wasted rebuilding infrastructure that is below sea level and frequently in the direct path of hurricanes. When will they learn that they are throwing money away. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

I wonder if there is that same sentiment for the coastlines and inland Florida which is too often hammered by hurricanes and the tornadoes they spawn incurring vast damage. Or is that a different ox?

I hope the hurricane goes elsewhere and nobody gets hurt but if people want to rebuild in places that mother nature will be reclaiming in the future it should not be taxpayer money that funds this.

You realize that would be the state of Florida which is predicted to be back under water one day.

I hope no one is injured also but the USA is constantly funding other natural disasters such as California wildfires and earthquakes, Florida hurricanes, etc. I’m wondering why Louisiana is being singled out as such a liability. Could it be because of the area’s demographics?

[QUOTE Could it be because of the area’s demographics?[/QUOTE]

To double down on that thought, I wonder how many are unvaccinated? That would be indeed be the perfect storm (no pun intended).

It is below sea level.

Listen, they obvious choose to live there so they expect it, right?
This goes on many times every year.
It's a septic tank city of the U.S.
They stage Hurricane party's and laugh at storms.
They rebuild their house after destruction with insurance money.

Keep paying your high home insurance premiums people, here we go again.

And what do you think the high end homes of the east coasters hit by hurricanes are rebuilt with? Fema was sent in there so quickly when Henri struck it would make one’s head spin. Constantly, other states are footing the bill for the Gulf and Atlantic states stricken by hurricanes, which are part of America, without demonizing those resident citizens. Is this a new level of ugliness?

And you live on a peninsula which is a hurricane magnet but it is your home and you love it. Who are we to judge?

"Could it be because of the area’s demographics?"

I think we all know the answer to that. There are a lot of things I personally don't like my taxes used for, but I'm not going to digress and whine about it here - as that isn't the purpose of this thread.


To others, I started the thread out of a genuine concern for FELLOW AMERICANS, so it would be nice to keep it that way. Thank you.

Yes. That would be nice.

Not ALL of them has parties and laugh at storms

Now a strong Cat 4. It's guaranteed that there are a LOT of very concerned/afraid people (and NOT just in NOLA itself) - waking up this morning. And to have it on the anniversary of Katrina, is like rubbing salt into the wound. My fingers are crossed that loss of life is minimal.

And where would you suggest they move the port of New Orleans to? A lot of commerce is shipped via that port up and down the Mississippi River and a lot of "those people" work that port. I lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck - I was fortunate to be able to evacuate out of the city, many who have families that have lived there for generations were not able to as they relied on public transportation. The lower ninth ward had many families that live within the blocks of each other or on the same street - great-grandmother, grandmother, sons, daughters, children, grandchildren, who did not have the means to get out. The whole response was a giant cluster-f**k and many people died. Several parts of the city are still devastated and will never be rebuilt. But, I ask again - where do want the river traffic to go?

Unfortunately, this "ugliness" has been around forever. The Villages is no different than the rest of this country. Fellow americans are only a certain demographic and no better showing of this feeling than on this site. Sorry that your concern was spun to the crude and rude. I, too, hope for the safety of those in the path of Ida.

Threads like this, where people try to twist others posts to fit their narrative, always help me fill my ignore list.

It’s interesting that insurance companies will pay to rebuild a house located below sea level in New Orleans. But if you live in Monroe County Florida they won’t pay to rebuild your first floor…
I lived in Key Largo for 12 years and if we had flood or storm surge damage to our first floor from a hurricane, we were not covered by our insurance. And FEMA made it clear they had no intention of helping.
Maybe it’s the demographics…

Back to Ida info:

Hurricane Ida update: Storm to make landfall Sunday in Louisiana

I ? if it is the demographics. Lived/worked in South Florida as insurance adjuster. Appears you did not have a flood policy. In Florida Keys, most structures are just above sea level and there is not any levee/dam. New Orleans did some major changes to the levees after Katrina in 2004. Glad to see there are code restrictions which require that new housing should be on stilts. We do need to find ways that insurance companies including flood insurance dis continue to allow insurance to be purchased in these areas and I include areas such as fire prone areas in the western states.

so to your logic, we should not rebuild California towns after wildfires because they happen every year. And after earthquakes because they have happened and will happen again. What about Florida where you live with sinkholes? So if a sinkhole happens on your property they should not rebuild your house, just tell you move on since sinkholes in Florida happen far more often than hurricanes in Louisiana. What about the flooding along the Ohio and Tennessee rivers that happen every few years and destroy as many if not more homes and property? Your comments are just insensitive/ignorant bull that anyone can say about where someone else lives to make themselves feel like they know better than everybody else

Unfortunately many people do not do nice except for their own family and friends. Open your circles of concern to your fellow humans.

I agree 100%. There are a lot of selfish people living here.

Hopefully the mayor of NOLA won't get in his chopper this time and leave thousands stranded by not using buses to transport people out.
:ohdear::pray::ohdear::pray:

Explain what you really mean when you use “demographics”.

Since someone previously posted that the reason people have an issue with the rebuilding of New Orleans and the potential for further hurricane damage, may have to do with the demographics of New Orleans. I simply reversed the argument and questioned if the lack of FEMA support in the Florida keys also has to do with demographics…

If you worked in the insurance business in Monroe County, you would know that flood insurance was required if you had a mortgage. However, if your house was built after (not certain of the year, but it was 60’s or 70’s) even if you had flood insurance, your first floor was not covered.

[Quote] Swoop:
If you worked in the insurance business in Monroe County, you would know that flood insurance was required if you had a mortgage. However, if your house was built after (not certain the year, but it was 60’s or 70’s) even if you had food insurance, your first floor was not covered.


May it be the fact that the government built levees and dams failed the New Orleans population which anticipated a certain level of protection and because of the vast disaster, FEMA went to work.

In your situation, the possibility of flooding is a constant with no dam or levee protection and the scope of damage was more confined. I don’t know and perhaps you should pose that question with your local representative and you will have a defined answer.

//////

Of course some real-estate person would explain all this before
someone up north would invest in the property, right???

We've been through a cat 5 in Florida....

The solution is actually pretty simple....be prepared and take the necessary actions to remain safe.

Are they scary...yes, IMHO because of the twisters that seem to come with them

We went through a direct hit with the 'eye' going directly over us back in 2005 with Wilma, a cat 5 when it hit Ft Lauderdale....not pleasant....and 5 months after moving to TV another direct hit with a hurricane

it also makes a difference which side of the storm you are on

you never really get used to them, and you breathe a sigh of relief when they head away from you, or drop down to a tropical storm...much like living in California and dealing with the earthquakes, or the states that are prone to twisters

except for the manufactured homes in the historic area the homes in TV have been constructed in accord with building standards to withstand the hurricanes...and it's safe to shelter in place

we stock up annual with what we call our hurricane stash of non-perishable foods....when the season is over and we're happy that we didn't have to use any of it we bring it over to the local food bank

Original post RE Cat 4 Storm aiming at N.Orleans
 

Since the original post was a thoughtful item about how it feels when a Cat 4 hurricane comes at you, I thought I would bring the thread back to its intention which certainly was not about "demographics" but about trepidation and fear for people.

Having lived in various parts of deeply South Florida from 1988, I have had far too much experience of hurricanes and storms. I have been evacuated, I have left voluntarily, and I have stayed in my home.I have been on the 10th floor and watched a side by side refrigerator fly by. Either way, when the time comes, it is really difficult to know whether to go or stay when a storm is coming, and each has its drawbacks, especially if you have animals. If you are driving north there are really only two highways out, or I should say 2 long parking lots.

However there is a certain rhythm to preparation before the storm hits. As the Boy Scouts say "Be prepared." And so, in April and May you make sure that you have everything you might need on hand, because when a storm is coming everything is flying off the shelves and out of Home Depot and it becomes very difficult to get anything. You have to hope that you happen to be at the store when the delivery arrives.

In all honesty I prefer staying at home, and I say this when I have been through a CAT 4 the eye of which went right across the house. The scariest part is when the house starts groaning and the walls begin to move, it's not much, but enough to give you a good scare. Then there's the noise, the freight train sound of the wind and the thumps and bangs of tree limbs or trees hitting the house. This storm took its sweet time, 24 hours to pass across. In the eye we were out in the street clearing debris from the drains so as to avoid flooding. No electricity in an all electric house (never again!), no phone for almost a week. Not pretty or fun, but our well built block home with poured concrete 'pillars' every 3 ft in the block and concertina shutters was not damaged that weekend, just a few Spanish style tiles flew off. Nor was it when the exact same thing happened just two weeks to the day later, but a Cat 2 this time. Who says lightening doesn't strike twice? Must have been the guy who wrote the song "It Never Rains in Southern California"!

Nevertheless, I loved living near the beach and everything that S.Florida is famous for. Would I want to be there now? NO! Very happy in the Villages on the top of a nice hill.
Happy Sunday Folks!

No. Wilma was a cat 3 when it crossed the southwest coast of Florida from the Gulf. While moving east across Florida, it was downgraded to a cat 2 and exited the east coast into the Atlantic near Jupiter.

Our daughter-in-law grew up in New Orleans and her parents and sisters are there as I write this and Ida’s eye is hitting shore. Circumstances were such that they couldn’t leave to get out of harm’s way as they have done many times. They know this one is going to be really bad. We can only pray for them.

She and our son were planning to retire on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain near Slidell LA, dock their boat behind the house and go fishing every day. Their dream is to spend six months there and the summers thru change of colors in their house in Michigan.

Ida may change those plans. Ida is pushing a huge storm surge right into Lake Ponchartrain. There may not be much left on the north shore after the hurricane finishes.

Your ill-disguised insinuation is DISGUSTING!