Florida and South Carolina members checking in after Hurricane. Everyone OK?

[Alan Lightstone]

Just wanted to make sure that our members that were impacted by Hurricane Ian are OK and don't need any help.

We live directly on the Intercoastal in Seminole, FL (just South of Clearwater), so were expecting massive storm surge and Cat 4 winds. The predicted storm surge would have destroyed my workshop. The house, hopefully would have survived. Being in evacuation zone A, myself, kids, 3 dogs, and grandchild evacuated to a hotel in Tampa and rode out the storm there. Pretty impressive. On one dog walk outside, one of my dogs was like a kite. Last dog walk outside for them.

Fortunately for us, the storm veered Southeast and spared us, just like Hurricane Charley did. Amazingly, we didn't lose power, although hundreds of thousands of people did in Pinellas County. No power for over a million people south of us. The pictures and reports south of us are heartbreaking. My daughter went to college in Ft Myers. Unclear what is left of her school. She is stunned looking at the pictures of places she used to go. And what is going to happen to thousands of students down there who have no homes and whose schools were destroyed. Sadly, but fortunately, our state is as prepared for this as you can be, and resources are flooding in to help and save people and their pets. As far as their houses, massive numbers are total losses.

I know we have a number of members who were directly in the path of the massive hurricane. Please check-in so that we know you are ok, and if you need any help, please let us know.

[Frederick Skelly]

Glad you came through OK!

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Very tough times for many : ( . Glad you and yours are OK. Our Kids in Brunswick GA had good fortune. Son in NC expecting rain.

[Rick Potter]

Also glad to hear you came through it OK, we have been praying for people in the path of the Hurricane, and hoping folks will have a useable home to come back to. I hope homeowners insurance will cover the damage for most, but I suspect homes in hurricane areas need a separate policy for wind and water damage.

Here in CA we are not covered by earthquakes without a separate policy and many, including us, do not buy it because it is super expensive, and does not cover that much. I imagine hurricane and tornado areas have the same type system?

[Alan Lightstone]

Not sure about tornados and insurance, though I saw a few when living in the Midwest.

Most hurricane policies have a 2% deductible, which isn't nothing when you consider the cost of rebuilding a house. And they don't cover damage from floods. Just damage caused by wind. So if storm surge destroys your house, the hurricane policies don't pay for it, and flood insurance (which is limited to $100K near me) would only pay a fraction of it. It's possible that you might be able to get more than $100K of federal flood insurance. I never looked in to it.

[Alan Rutherford]

Around Tallahassee Ian was a big nothing. After days of worst-scenario forecasts and advisories on preparing your home, we had clear skies, little wind, no rain and really the most pleasant weather since last Spring. I've found in the past that if you ignore the TV and go to the Natonal Hurricane Center you can find the best available information in unemotional form and make better decisions but in this case it was always expected to hit harder elsewhere.

For much of the state however it was a real blow (no pun intended) and it will take some time to absorb what has happened.

[Alan Rutherford]

The lack of replies from the rest of Florida might tell you something about the conditions there. It's likely some of them won't be on the internet for quite a while.

[Alan Lightstone]

I did see that Elon Musk has donated a number of Starlink satellite terminals each of which will provide a 13 mile radius of internet coverage for up to 100 users and repositioning a number of Starlink satellites in orbit to maximize coverage in the affected areas. Pretty amazing.

[John Goodin]

I am glad to hear you are okay Alan.

My sister lives in Deland which is half way between Orlando and Daytona. She lives in an older neighborhood with above ground utilities. Every time a hurricane, or the remnants thereof, comes through she loses power for a few days. Tonight she broke down and went to a hotel.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A father in church this morning tried to tell of his daughters rescue from one of the islands. The update ended in in tears. Tears of Joy thank goodness!