Harvey and Irma

[TheAverageMartin]

I can't say I'm glad I live far away from where Harvey passed by or where Irma is going to pass by.
I do am worried because I have some close friends that live around there. Added to this, empathy presents in myself pretty strongly, so I do worry about those that live there.

My country's main news channels are following, on a daily basis, the movement of Irma. I saw images of people buying lots of gas. I also heard that it was suggested to gather water and food for 3 days.

For those that live around Florida, how are you guys holding up? Are the structures prepared for things like that? Can you barricade yourself enough to minimize the damage? In case of high damages, does the state take care of it (fixing houses, paying for cars, fixing roads and parks)?

I've heard that, according to weather stations and intelligent people, the hurricane should hit on monday. Is this correct?

[snafu]

I don't know if the news is completely accurate as so much can change in 5 days

I have heard the the governor of Florida has already declared a state of emergency for the entire state.

[KayKay]

Originally Posted by TheAverageMartin

Are the structures prepared for things like that? Can you barricade yourself enough to minimize the damage? In case of high damages, does the state take care of it (fixing houses, paying for cars, fixing roads and parks)?

There are some structures built strong enough to withstand a Cat 5 hurricane. Unfortunately, most are not. A Cat 5 hurricane will knock a house off of its foundation; you can barricade yourself, but that is with the hope that it doesn't hit as a Cat 5 and rather as a Cat 2 or 3.

The state takes care of fixing public property - roads, parks, government buildings. Individual homeowners are responsible for fixing their house or replacing cars. Most people have insurance for the hurricane, but sadly that isn't the same as insurance for the flood. People will be covered for the amount of damage done to their house by wind, but not by floods unless they are one of the few who had a flood insurance policy.

[Knot2loud]

I suspect everyone's homeowners insurance will go up again. Mine increased quite a bit after Katrina.

I looked my history from 1998. It has quintupled since then. Of course, that was while we lived in our last house. The home we are in now hasn't increased much... yet.

The damage was pretty bad in some areas from what I heard on the news. I'm just glad the loss of life was very, very low. It could have been much worse.

I guess hurricane Jose petered out. Haven't heard anything about that one for the last couple of days.

[LucyVanPelt]

Yep, homeowners will go up. Insurance companies have to pay their stock holders.

[KayKay]

Very glad I pay annually in August!

[TheAverageMartin]

Before Irma stroke, I heard in the news that it went from Cat 5 to 4 to a strong storm.
I also heard that, sadly, around 27 people died because of it.

Didn't hear as much about José, so I guess it wasn't as bad.

[KayKay]

Jose is still out there, churning away in the Atlantic, taking a more northerly approach and not near land at the moment. It was downgraded to a tropical storm for a day, and is currently back up to a Category 1 hurricane. We may still hear something from Jose.

[Knot2loud]

Hopefully the only thing we'll hear about hurricane Jose is it is heading out away from land.

[KayKay]

Now we have to figure out "How do you solve a problem like Maria?"