The dilemma of living in a disaster prone area.

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
Whether you are living in a wildfire prone area or one constantly under the threat of destruction from hurricanes, it becomes even worse because it's difficult to resolve your situation. Most insurance companies want nothing to do with insuring your house, and the state funded plans are now either on the brink of insolvency, or already there. If the insurance companies realize it's financial suicide to insure those folks, then the state insurance will suffer the same demise.

That presents a problem, because even if you do want to sell and relocate, how do you sell a house that no one can insure. If the buyer gets a mortgage on it, the lending institution requires insurance, or they won't fund. Are you stuck? Modifying your home to be hurricane proof or fireproof could cost a great deal of money. What to do?
 

That is quite a heart wrenching dilemma Bob. My BFF, who lives in Florida, and I have discussed this. My grandson. who lives in my city and I talked about it Saturday night too. I feel so bad for those poor people who are stuck in that situation. There's an upscale town here in Jersey, not that far from where we live, that is plagued by flooding. During Superstorm Sandy, those residents' homes were totaled. From what I heard, they were offered some sort of compensation from a government agency, but not nearly the value of their homes. Don't know if the town wanted the land for something else or any further details.
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
That is quite a heart wrenching dilemma Bob. My BFF, who lives in Florida, and I have discussed this. My grandson. who lives in my city and I talked about it Saturday night too. I feel so bad for those poor people who are stuck in that situation. There's an upscale town here in Jersey, not that far from where we live, that is plagued by flooding. During Superstorm Sandy, those residents' homes were totaled. From what I heard, they were offered some sort of restitution from a government agency, but not nearly the value of their homes. Don't know if the town wanted the land for something else or any further details.
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So very sad. I have heard about a technique called "amphibious architecture" whereby polystyrene type floats are placed under the first floor kinda like a houseboat concept. Then they put tall guideposts on the four corners of the house so it can move up and down, but not sideways, and then free it from being bolted to the foundation, and flexible plumbing and electrical extensions are done.

I have no idea how well the idea works, or even how insurance companies would treat that kind of design, but it seems like the idea is sound. The water goes up ... the house goes up. I suppose, in a way, it's how Venice works (Floating homes).
 

bobcat said:
That presents a problem, because even if you do want to sell and relocate, how do you sell a house that no one can insure.
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Personal experience...
Houses in a flood-prone area were bought out by a government agency, so that those people can relocate.
One of those families bought our previous house with their buy-out money.
 
Between the West Coast fires, and the SE floods/Tornadoes, the homeowners insurance rates will be going up substantially...all over the nation....as the insurance companies try to recoup their losses. Recent news says that some insurance companies are already dropping their coverage in these areas.
 
That Lady in PA said:
Personal experience...
Houses in a flood-prone area were bought out by a government agency, so that those people can relocate.
One of those families bought our previous house with their buy-out money.
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Sounds like a wonderful program. I imagine there would be millions of homes in harm's way, so they would probably have to meet some strict criteria. I'm also curious as to what the buy-out organization does with the home. Whatever happens, at least it's one solution.
 
bobcat said:
So very sad. I have heard about a technique called "amphibious architecture" whereby polystyrene type floats are placed under the first floor kinda like a houseboat concept. Then they put tall guideposts on the four corners of the house so it can move up and down, but not sideways, and then free it from being bolted to the foundation, and flexible plumbing and electrical extensions are done.

I have no idea how well the idea works, or even how insurance companies would treat that kind of design, but it seems like the idea is sound. The water goes up ... the house goes up. I suppose, in a way, it's how Venice works (Floating homes).
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Imagine getting seasick in your own home--during a flood. :sick: :oops:😉
 
Warren Buffet/Berkshire Hathaway invests in many insurance companies. That surprised me when he keeps buying more (I forget the latest I read about) when it seems like it wouldn’t be wise with all the natural disasters lately.
 
Jules said:
Warren Buffet/Berkshire Hathaway invests in many insurance companies. That surprised me when he keeps buying more (I forget the latest I read about) when it seems like it wouldn’t be wise with all the natural disasters lately.
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Hmmm .... hard to say why. I imagine insurance companies are raising their rates to compensate, and probably reducing their exposure by dropping policies in areas they used to write in. I guess one wouldn't know unless you could view their P&L summary for the year. Maybe they are more profitable than one would expect.

For PG&E, they had to pay out large claims for fires that resulted from their infrastructure, and they just passed along the cost to the public by raising their rates. Doesn't seem fair, but they do it.
 
My brother-in-law is losing his homeowner's insurance in Largo, FL. He is in Zone D, so he might be able to find some new insurance. I don't know what folks in Flood Zones A and B will do, however.

I noticed that in Indian Shores beach area by Tampa, all the new homes were built a good 10 feet off the ground on cement pillars with the lower part serving as parking. Perhaps this is even code now.
 
We've had many warnings about this in many cultures, dating back to antiquity and probably even prehistory. All I could remember was the Sunday School song for children, so I had to look this up:

Matthew 7:24-27​
​
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”​

I see there are quite a few variations on the kids' song now, for example:

 
I used to live where this guy had a house on a stream. It wasn't near it, it was on it- one of the banks of the stream was the guy's basement wall. So, whenever we had the remnants of a super rainy hurricane go by, he got wiped out. And he'd be on TV saying he was going to build again.
You either have to get out of a flood plain or keep paying to live there. And you have to build for the particular threats in your area,
 
Michael Z said:
My brother-in-law is losing his homeowner's insurance in Largo, FL. He is in Zone D, so he might be able to find some new insurance. I don't know what folks in Flood Zones A and B will do, however.

I noticed that in Indian Shores beach area by Tampa, all the new homes were built a good 10 feet off the ground on cement pillars with the lower part serving as parking. Perhaps this is even code now.
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In Hudson, that's code now. Any new or replacement home must be raised up.


raised up.jpgup.jpg
 
The back part of my property is in a flood zone where it slopes toward the creek. After three decades the only problem we've had was when a water main burst about 15 years ago. However the insurance keeps going up which doesn't surprise me.
 
To top it all off, there's this story in the news today...

North Carolina hurricane recovery team relocated amid threat of ‘armed militia’

Hurricane Helene federal emergency workers told to evacuate Rutherford county.​

Government emergency workers in the US responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina were relocated over the weekend amid concerns that “armed militia” could pose a threat to their safety.​
​
US Forest Service official sent out a message warning that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) “has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, NC, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately”.​
​
The message said that soldiers with the national guard “had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying there were out hunting FEMA”.​
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The Appalachian county of Rutherford incorporates the mountain towns of Rutherfordton, Forest City and Chimney Rock, which were badly hit by Helene floodwaters that tore away homes, washed out roads and killed dozens.​

That's just plain nuts.
 
squatting dog said:
Yeah, they arrested some wacko, but, there's more...
However, in a statement to CBS, the North Carolina National Guard wrote, “The NCNG has no reports of our soldiers or airmen encountering any armed militia, any threats and any type of combatants. We are continuing to serve all those counties in need of our assistance.”
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This has absolutely PISSED me off. I live here and personally living thru this BS... It was nearly a week (5 days) before we seen any FEMA folks, and EVERYONE we personally know was given excuses and refused the 1st attempt at getting help. What we did see was the immediate start of regular folks jumping into helping.... taking their personal equipment out and starting to clear and rebuild roads, rescue folks.
One Jackwagon showed his ass, and it becomes national news that us hillbillies are all armed and wanting to fight...
(well we are but thats a different story)
 
old medic said:
This has absolutely PISSED me off. I live here and personally living thru this BS... It was nearly a week (5 days) before we seen any FEMA folks, and EVERYONE we personally know was given excuses and refused the 1st attempt at getting help. What we did see was the immediate start of regular folks jumping into helping.... taking their personal equipment out and starting to clear and rebuild roads, rescue folks.
One Jackwagon showed his ass, and it becomes national news that us hillbillies are all armed and wanting to fight...
(well we are but thats a different story)
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It takes a while for FEMA to ramp up and arrive. They're a help, but they're certainly not magic.

Living in an area that experienced a large earthquake that caused widespread damage and will eventually see another (though perhaps not in my lifetime), the prevailing advice has long been to get to know your neighbors because they're your lifeline. Help each other and start the cleanup process on your own.

Local, state and federal gov't help will arrive, but be prepared to make it on your own for 3 days to 2 weeks, depending on the size of the emergency and accessibility of the hard-hit areas.

People are encouraged to store more water, non-perishable foods, batteries and other supplies to not only care for themselves but also neighbors whose own supplies may be low or ruined in the disaster.

Last bit: It's not the government's fault that natural disasters occur.
 
StarSong said:
It takes a while for FEMA to ramp up and arrive. They're a help, but they're certainly not magic.
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I'm not trying to imply they are not a help and I have many years of experience with disasters. But this BS of truck loads of armed militia hunting FEMA and the actual stopping of FEMA providing assistance for a period of time.
 
old medic said:
I'm not trying to imply they are not a help and I have many years of experience with disasters. But this BS of truck loads of armed militia hunting FEMA and the actual stopping of FEMA providing assistance for a period of time.
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I wonder who started those rumors. Do you have any idea? It's a sincere question.
 

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