Is it just me or does this seem like the most damaging storm in a long time? The pictures are insane.
I wonder if it’s because Florence had so much flooding that you don’t get the visual impact in the pictures that you do from total destruction with wind and water.
RichVR
3750
Probably pics of landfall. Panama City was flattened. And as far as coverage, as you might guess, it’s a big deal down here.
Tman
3751
What happens when a house you are trying to sell gets wiped?
I’m guessing it turns into an insurance claim, then repairs (good luck getting those done in the next 6 months - contractors are already in high demand, this is going to make it even harder), then sell it?
Or could you take the cash, and just sell the lot?
Eg, look at this listing from Mexico Beach:
Clay
3752
We lost power and have trees down in our back yard. Ugh. I feel like I just finished cleaning up the last ones.
My dad was trying to sell his beach house on Topsail Beach (barrier islands) last year, but no one bit so they were just waiting for next summer to try again at a more favorable price. It got hit pretty hard with Florence and while it’s still standing has a ton of damage to the roof, siding, has water damage all inside, etc…
With the damage to that whole island (some houses are completely gone) I doubt they’d be able to sell next year without taking a massive hit, even with insurance paying for most of the repairs.
They mentioned on NPR this morning that (I think this was Florence and Michael combined) estimates say $25 billion in damages, with only maybe 50% of that insured. The rest is just lost.
Seems insane not to have hurricane insurance in Florida, or really anywhere on the Gulf or Atlantic coast. I’m surprised you can get a mortgage without it.
Seems insane to live on a coast these days.
Scrax
3759
Devastation. Devastation. Perfectly fine house on stilts. Devastation.
stusser
3760
Wouldn’t think a storm surge would do that. I’d think it would take a tsunami.
35 of the 68 counties in Florida are coastal, but they contain over 98% of the population. And if you want Hurricane insurance on a $1M coastal home in Florida it’s probably 20-50$K/yr.
RichVR
3762
Yeah, hurricane insurance is real pricey here. And then there are different types. You might have ‘wind driven water insurance’ but your damage was caused by rising flood waters, so you lose. Also the cost for living on a flood plain is around ten times higher than normal.
Insurance is also complicated. If a hurricane causes flooding then that goes against flood insurance not hurricane insurance, so I have no idea who covers half of this stuff.
I think the answer is “nobody.”
Nesrie
3765
Yeah Katrina had the your house didn’t flood so your flood insurance didn’t cover it. The roof was ripped off and it rained so that’s some other kind of insurance. It’s really messed up.
Alstein
3766
We got it pretty bad here in Greensboro- my morning run was dodge all the downed trees in the dark and parents yard got flooded. Also some nearby tornados. It was as bad as Hugo, though the worst of it was during the day instead of in the middle of the night.
Amazing footage of Michael’s landfall
