Ian Aftermath.... | Syracusefan.com

Ian Aftermath....

newmexicuse

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I wish to whole heartedly thank the community of Syracusefan for all of the support and best wishes during Hurricane Ian.

I am grateful for my personal situation.

I was surprised, but right after getting up this morning the power and internet services came back on after only a 16 hour outage.

Our home is lakefront and our lake rose to within a couple of feet of flooding our lanai and causing major damage. The only damage we suffered was 4 screen panels in the lanai lost to wind damage. The wind was so strong it also lifted and bent a metal support bar from our lanai cage and lifted the metal bar with four pavers attached. That was it for us personally except for a downed tree, plenty of debris, and possible damage to some plants. We still cannot travel anywhere until our street flooding abates.

I believe had Ian tracked 10 to 20 miles closer to us that my home would have suffered devastating flood damage.

Our beautiful downtown Venice area is devasted included severe flooding and damage to our famous near best in the country community theatre.

1664458656069.png
 
Glad to know that you’re safe. My parents’ place is in Osprey and they haven’t gotten any reports yet but they’re cautiously optimistic. Their friends in Naples house got wet and their car is trashed. Best of luck with the cleanup!
 
I am in South Florida so we have minimum damages other then debris.

But I would like to share my experiences to those who suffered some damages and are thinking about calling the insurance companies. This may or may not play out to your advantage.

I own a number of properties and after each storm like Wilma, Michael and Irma suffered damages.

One year I had a tree branch come down from 40' above and punched through the roof and you can see the branch sticking down into the ceiling. Flooded the space below. Same property had half the fence collapsed, two more trees came down on the driveway tore up the retaining wall around the tree bed. Lots of debris and landscape damages.

So I called the insurance company. I was like caller #244. LOL, estimated wait time INFINITY. Waited two more days and scheduled an adjustor to come out.

Now depends on your policy you need to make sure you call the right company. If you have company A for homeowners, company B for windstorm, and company C for flood, you need to know what is the cause of the damages to call the right company. Don't call homeowners insurance if you have a roof blown off. That's windstorm. If water rose up and came into the house, it's flood insurance.

Secondly, know your deductible. Many homes have the standard 5% deductible for primary structures. So if your home is valued at 500K, 5% of that is 25K. You are responsible for 25K! So if your damages are less than 25K calling them is a bad deal, it's a waste of time and will only get your rate jacked up next year.

Thirdly, debris cleaning, tree cutting, hauling off a bunch of 500 pound tree limbs are not covered. Collapsed retaining walls, broken and down fences, standalone sheds are most likely not covered due to them not being "primary structures".

So with a lot of damages and debris all around and a 25K deductible, the adjuster calculates your covered damages and tells you it's 17K and you have to pay for all of it and he leaves and you pay for all the expenses.

This is not the end. A month later the insurance carrier calls and wants to come to do an inspection, why? You didn't pay a dime of it! Well sir, we need to make sure you fixed it properly and need to see permit papers contractor invoices etc...Why? Because many people choose to NOT make repairs or to make improper repairs, so you have a 17K damage on your roof, if you don't fix it the next storm comes around and do a 12K damage, then the next adjuster, not knowing you have a pre-existing situation will end up with a 29K estimate, requiring us to pay $4000 since it's above the deductible. So we need to make sure the damages are repaired, or we will have to cancel you.

...and since you filed a claim, and even we didn't pay you, you are now in a higher risk class, so we have to raise your rate by 30%, on top of the 32% we are raising everyone already...have a good day Sir.

So review your policy and read the fine print before you call. In addition, if you call an insurance company and file a claim, your repairs most likely need to be documented, so think twice before hiring an unlicensed contractor or pay cash to a lower bidder.
 
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I am in South Florida so we have minimum damages other then debris.

But I would like to share my experiences to those who suffered some damages and are thinking about calling the insurance companies. This may or may not play out to your advantage.

I own a number of properties and after each storm like Wilma, Michael and Irma suffered damages.

One year I had a tree branch come down from 40' above and punched through the roof and you can see the branch sticking down into the ceiling. Flooded the space below. Same property had half the fence collapsed, two more trees came down on the driveway tore up the retaining wall around the tree bed. Lots of debris and landscape damages.

So I called the insurance company. I was like caller #244. LOL, estimated wait time INFINITY. Waited two more days and scheduled an adjustor to come out.

Now depends on your policy you need to make sure you call the right company. If you have company A for homeowners, company B for windstorm, and company C for flood, you need to know what is the cause of the damages to call the right company. Don't call homeowners insurance if you have a roof blown off. That's windstorm. If water rose up and came into the house, it's flood insurance.

Secondly, know your deductible. Many homes have the standard 5% deductible for primary structures. So if your home is valued at 500K, 5% of that is 25K. You are responsible for 25K! So if your damages are less than 25K calling them is a bad deal, it's a waste of time and will only get your rate jacked up next year.

Thirdly, debris cleaning, tree cutting, hailing off a bunch of 500 pound limbs are not covered. Collapsed retaining walls, broken and down fences, standalone sheds are most likely not covered due to them not being "primary structures".

So with a lot of damages and debris all around and a 25K deductible, the adjuster calculates your covered damages and tells you it's 17K and you have to pay for all of it and he leaves and you pay for all the expenses.

This is not the end. A month later the insurance carrier calls and wants to come to do an inspection, why? You didn't pay a dime of it! Well sir, we need to make sure you fixed it properly and need to see permit papers contractor invoices etc...Why? Because many people choose to NOT make repairs or to make improper repairs, so you have a 17K damage on your roof, if you don't fix it the next storm comes around and do a 12K damage, then the next adjuster, not knowing you have a pre-existing situation will end up with a 29K estimate, requiring us to pay $4000 since it's above the deductible. So we need to make sure the damages are repaired, or we will have to cancel you.

...and since you filed a claim, and even we didn't pay you, you are now in a higher risk class, so we have to raise your rate by 30%, on top of the 32% we are raising everyone already...have a good day Sir.

So review your policy and read the fine print before you call. In addition, if you call an insurance company and file a claim, your repairs most likely need to be documented, so think twice before hiring an unlicensed contractor or pay cash to a lower bidder.

Great advice. The tough thing right now is the FL Hazard Ins companies have a solvency issue that the state is trying to hide so that the state provided insurance itself isn't overtaxed. This Hurricane comes at the worst time.
 
I am in Orlando, lots of rain and very windy last night and this morning. A few trees down but lots of flooding. All in all not too bad.

My family has a place in Punta Gorda, where my brother currently lives and I loved for a year, a few years ago. He’s also a cop in Punta Gorda…they were not so lucky. Eye of the storm went right over them. Our condo isn’t too bad, just come water from the balcony leaked onto the condo and the balcony itself is pretty messed up but good other than that. Punta Gorda was spared the 12 foot storm surge they were predicting thank god, cause downtown would have been literally underwater. There is only a 1-2 foot storm wall holding back the harbor from all of downtown. 12 foot surge would have been catastrophic. Still got 140 mph winds and heavy rain, lots of wind damage to Punta Gorda but in a way I still feel spared? Of how much worse it could have been with the surge. Needless to say a lot of rebuilding and a long road ahead for that community from the pics and videos I have gotten so far. They are gonna need your thoughts and prayers as well as Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Naples
 
I am in South Florida so we have minimum damages other then debris.

But I would like to share my experiences to those who suffered some damages and are thinking about calling the insurance companies. This may or may not play out to your advantage.

I own a number of properties and after each storm like Wilma, Michael and Irma suffered damages.

One year I had a tree branch come down from 40' above and punched through the roof and you can see the branch sticking down into the ceiling. Flooded the space below. Same property had half the fence collapsed, two more trees came down on the driveway tore up the retaining wall around the tree bed. Lots of debris and landscape damages.

So I called the insurance company. I was like caller #244. LOL, estimated wait time INFINITY. Waited two more days and scheduled an adjustor to come out.

Now depends on your policy you need to make sure you call the right company. If you have company A for homeowners, company B for windstorm, and company C for flood, you need to know what is the cause of the damages to call the right company. Don't call homeowners insurance if you have a roof blown off. That's windstorm. If water rose up and came into the house, it's flood insurance.

Secondly, know your deductible. Many homes have the standard 5% deductible for primary structures. So if your home is valued at 500K, 5% of that is 25K. You are responsible for 25K! So if your damages are less than 25K calling them is a bad deal, it's a waste of time and will only get your rate jacked up next year.

Thirdly, debris cleaning, tree cutting, hailing off a bunch of 500 pound limbs are not covered. Collapsed retaining walls, broken and down fences, standalone sheds are most likely not covered due to them not being "primary structures".

So with a lot of damages and debris all around and a 25K deductible, the adjuster calculates your covered damages and tells you it's 17K and you have to pay for all of it and he leaves and you pay for all the expenses.

This is not the end. A month later the insurance carrier calls and wants to come to do an inspection, why? You didn't pay a dime of it! Well sir, we need to make sure you fixed it properly and need to see permit papers contractor invoices etc...Why? Because many people choose to NOT make repairs or to make improper repairs, so you have a 17K damage on your roof, if you don't fix it the next storm comes around and do a 12K damage, then the next adjuster, not knowing you have a pre-existing situation will end up with a 29K estimate, requiring us to pay $4000 since it's above the deductible. So we need to make sure the damages are repaired, or we will have to cancel you.

...and since you filed a claim, and even we didn't pay you, you are now in a higher risk class, so we have to raise your rate by 30%, on top of the 32% we are raising everyone already...have a good day Sir.

So review your policy and read the fine print before you call. In addition, if you call an insurance company and file a claim, your repairs most likely need to be documented, so think twice before hiring an unlicensed contractor or pay cash to a lower bidder.
Such a joke.
 
I am in South Florida so we have minimum damages other then debris.

But I would like to share my experiences to those who suffered some damages and are thinking about calling the insurance companies. This may or may not play out to your advantage.

I own a number of properties and after each storm like Wilma, Michael and Irma suffered damages.

One year I had a tree branch come down from 40' above and punched through the roof and you can see the branch sticking down into the ceiling. Flooded the space below. Same property had half the fence collapsed, two more trees came down on the driveway tore up the retaining wall around the tree bed. Lots of debris and landscape damages.

So I called the insurance company. I was like caller #244. LOL, estimated wait time INFINITY. Waited two more days and scheduled an adjustor to come out.

Now depends on your policy you need to make sure you call the right company. If you have company A for homeowners, company B for windstorm, and company C for flood, you need to know what is the cause of the damages to call the right company. Don't call homeowners insurance if you have a roof blown off. That's windstorm. If water rose up and came into the house, it's flood insurance.

Secondly, know your deductible. Many homes have the standard 5% deductible for primary structures. So if your home is valued at 500K, 5% of that is 25K. You are responsible for 25K! So if your damages are less than 25K calling them is a bad deal, it's a waste of time and will only get your rate jacked up next year.

Thirdly, debris cleaning, tree cutting, hauling off a bunch of 500 pound tree limbs are not covered. Collapsed retaining walls, broken and down fences, standalone sheds are most likely not covered due to them not being "primary structures".

So with a lot of damages and debris all around and a 25K deductible, the adjuster calculates your covered damages and tells you it's 17K and you have to pay for all of it and he leaves and you pay for all the expenses.

This is not the end. A month later the insurance carrier calls and wants to come to do an inspection, why? You didn't pay a dime of it! Well sir, we need to make sure you fixed it properly and need to see permit papers contractor invoices etc...Why? Because many people choose to NOT make repairs or to make improper repairs, so you have a 17K damage on your roof, if you don't fix it the next storm comes around and do a 12K damage, then the next adjuster, not knowing you have a pre-existing situation will end up with a 29K estimate, requiring us to pay $4000 since it's above the deductible. So we need to make sure the damages are repaired, or we will have to cancel you.

...and since you filed a claim, and even we didn't pay you, you are now in a higher risk class, so we have to raise your rate by 30%, on top of the 32% we are raising everyone already...have a good day Sir.

So review your policy and read the fine print before you call. In addition, if you call an insurance company and file a claim, your repairs most likely need to be documented, so think twice before hiring an unlicensed contractor or pay cash to a lower bidder.
I hate insurance companies
 
Power came back tonight which is a mini miracle. I have not been able to have anyone access the house due to power needed to open shutters, garage door etc. I have been told by neighbors that the water level marks do not appear to be high enough to reach my living area. I am anxious to find out. My neighbors will find out for me in the morning. Everyone is my neighborhood had 1.5-3’ feet of water in their homes.
 
Nice answer smart ass. Ive been screwed over by insurance companies. Thus my hate. I have to have insurance, they know that. And they dont mind canceling me after paying for 30 years and filing two claims in three years for something I couldn’t prevent
A. Unless there is an interested third party (for a home, cars are different in most places) you don't have to have insurance. In fact, you have a 1/1200 chance of having a loss of $100,000 or more on a homeowners policy. The law of large numbers tells us that insurance is a black hole for money, but few of us, me included, are willing to gamble that it won't happen to us or disciplined enough to put away money to cover losses.
There are attorneys who specialize in bad faith insurance claims
 
Power came back tonight which is a mini miracle. I have not been able to have anyone access the house due to power needed to open shutters, garage door etc. I have been told by neighbors that the water level marks do not appear to be high enough to reach my living area. I am anxious to find out. My neighbors will find out for me in the morning. Everyone is my neighborhood had 1.5-3’ feet of water in their homes.
Good luck, where is your home ??
 
Saw the Director for emergency services indicate that funds can be provided by FEMA to get your house lifted. Indicated it was a bit of paperwork but hurricanes are only going to be getting worse with the climate change. With insurance impossible down in Florida, folks should look at those FEMA funds. Hell if you have a 2 story, just get rid of the first story, put the house 10 ft plus up and add a new level up top. The whole state is going to be a flood plane before you know it. Good luck to those of you having to rebuild.
 
Saw the Director for emergency services indicate that funds can be provided by FEMA to get your house lifted. Indicated it was a bit of paperwork but hurricanes are only going to be getting worse with the climate change. With insurance impossible down in Florida, folks should look at those FEMA funds. Hell if you have a 2 story, just get rid of the first story, put the house 10 ft plus up and add a new level up top. The whole state is going to be a flood plane before you know it. Good luck to those of you having to rebuild.
I don't understand why taxpayers are on the hook for this. We should be discouraging living in high-risk coastal areas. FEMA should provide emergency vouchers to help people to buy/rent inland outside of 100-year floodplains.
 
Saw the Director for emergency services indicate that funds can be provided by FEMA to get your house lifted. Indicated it was a bit of paperwork but hurricanes are only going to be getting worse with the climate change. With insurance impossible down in Florida, folks should look at those FEMA funds. Hell if you have a 2 story, just get rid of the first story, put the house 10 ft plus up and add a new level up top. The whole state is going to be a flood plane before you know it. Good luck to those of you having to rebuild.
Yeah, I think I’d just move….
 
I don't understand why taxpayers are on the hook for this. We should be discouraging living in high-risk coastal areas. FEMA should provide emergency vouchers to help people to buy/rent inland outside of 100-year floodplains.

Almost 100 million people live on the coast. Where would you put them all ?? Not to mentioon the economics and jobs of those coastal cities.
 

Almost 100 million people live on the coast. Where would you put them all ?? Not to mentioon the economics and jobs of those coastal cities.
Agreed but over the next 15 to 20 years as things get hotter and storms get worse there will be people migrating north. Climate is changing and fast. You can only rebuild so many times and things will be getting worse down there weather wise. if people want to live in Florida, they better get their houses 10 to 12 feet off the ground near coasts and get a platform with a Generac same height off the ground.
 
Agreed but over the next 15 to 20 years as things get hotter and storms get worse there will be people migrating north. Climate is changing and fast. You can only rebuild so many times and things will be getting worse down there weather wise. if people want to live in Florida, they better get their houses 10 to 12 feet off the ground near coasts and get a platform with a Generac same height off the ground.
If ever a Bond villain figured out how to handle rising sea levels, it was Stromberg. Been my lifelong dream, so if you guys want to get me something nice for my birthday, you know what to do.
JB-TSWLM-1.jpg

thespywholovedme.jpg
 
I don't understand why taxpayers are on the hook for this. We should be discouraging living in high-risk coastal areas. FEMA should provide emergency vouchers to help people to buy/rent inland outside of 100-year floodplains.
And what about high earthquake areas ? Should we also abandon half of California. Then you have volcano areas. should we abandon half the Pacific NW as well as the big island ?? And then there is one of the most under estimated causes of casualty damage......hail. Should we abandon places that can get big hailstorms ??? You usually post wisely, but this time u r on a slippery slope. If the Big One hits LA or SF, Ian will seem like a walk in the park. No, people should make their own living choices and they should assume the risk and assume higher casualty insurance rates for their choices. We as a country need to help fellow citizens when disaster strikes because major events can cause major harm anywhere. Syracuse is blizzard prone. We just never know for sure. No place is 100% immune.
 
And what about high earthquake areas ? Should we also abandon half of California. Then you have volcano areas. should we abandon half the Pacific NW as well as the big island ?? And then there is one of the most under estimated causes of casualty damage...hail. Should we abandon places that can get big hailstorms ??? You usually post wisely, but this time u r on a slippery slope. If the Big One hits LA or SF, Ian will seem like a walk in the park. No, people should make their own living choices and they should assume the risk and assume higher casualty insurance rates for their choices. We as a country need to help fellow citizens when disaster strikes because major events can cause major harm anywhere. Syracuse is blizzard prone. We just never know for sure. No place is 100% immune.

When’s the last time a Syracuse blizzard caused the kind of damage that a hurricane does seemingly every other year?
 

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