No electricity and no water. Natural gas pressure so low that those with generators are mostly inoperable. His neighbor’s palm tree is leaning against his house but otherwise no damage. A neighbor with a weather station measured 125 mph gusts.

Bailing out and heading for Fort Lauderdale.

Scaredy dog...

At the same time I never understood why so many are living where they know they are in an area where hurricanes happen every year.

I guess you just take your chances that it won’ t be you.

Everywhere has a downside. Florida/Hurricanes, Valley of the Sun/Heat, Midwest & Northeast/Cold & Snow, California/Everything (except Weather).

If I had the means, I’d invest four months a year in Arizona. The downside to it is a lack of water. Not enough water, no Life.

We all pick our poisons.

people sell themselves cuz of the upside.

But the real task, as you seem to have embraced, is to define and focus on the downside of the deal, and if you can live with it.

Once the wife says "ooooh, I love that red car" do you think the sales person would ever say "well, you realize it only gets 13 miles per gallon"? *

*based on a true story

You just can’t make these up…..

As you have said many times it’s only as good as the downside. The downside can be pretty severe in some areas. It may take years or it may never happen. But the downside is there.

The news around here was doom and gloom about Ian, but I wasn't all that concerned. We're on the west side of the 295... west of the St. John's River. It's Florida. It's going to rain. You're going to get hurricanes. Possibly flooding. Which is why you have insurance... which, by the way... is more expensive than CA for home AND auto. Who knew?

Hurricanes give you a few days to GTFO. Earthquakes give no warning.

Florida is used to this. I was really impressed by the texts/emails I got from the power company, JEA, and USAA (my insurance). They were on top of it.

The answer is… Me.

Don’t recall what year it was, guessing 2008ish, when three hurricanes went through Florida. Bad for insurance companies, worse for the people. In the heat of the aftermath, legislation was passed and signed mandating certain coverages and minimum coverage requirements. Then the tried to “California it” by then putting caps on what the total premiums could be.

Imagine you sell widgets, and the cost of your widget is $1. You charge $1.20. Then the gubmint tells you you cannot charge more than 75 cents for your widget. As a business owner, what to you do?

Some inscos left the state all together. Others (like the one I was working for) suspended selling Home Owners policies all together but stayed in state because auto and umbrella policies were still making money.

Less competition, higher prices.

At least you are out of the Earthquake zone. EQ coverage is more expensive than Hurricane coverage and it covers significantly less.

That said... what if the storm shifted its track? Then you're on a boat in a hurricane. It ain't so simple, Hog.

I went through a hurricane on the USS Sterett in 1989. Typhoon Ruby in the South China Sea... was sposta go one way and we went the other... and she changed her mind so we went right through it. In a 567' Navy ship with doors you can "dog down" and become waterproof... it's better to be out at sea than next to a pier.

We cracked our sonar dome in 30'+ waves, but we were never in real danger of sinking. Most pleasure boats would never survive.

Yea I see your point, but I would at least give it a shot if it was my Chit... I'm one who doesn't want to part or lose my chit. every thing I own is paid for and in working order. with that said my wife is on me about selling my 01 Lincoln Town Car that sits in the driveway taking up space because I drive the pick-up or her jeep if we're not on our bikes or bike. So yes it's taking up space... but it gets damn good gas milage and really hugs the road in the curves and the memories.. I could go on and on here... 🇨🇮 But we need the driveway space. I had it parked down at my other place and some assclown kept sucking the gas out of the tank so I moved it... LOL

I couldn't imagine being on a boat and possibly becoming Fish Bate!! 😳 😳

Boats, Cattle, Horses...you name it, whatever the "poison" you make the conscious effort and responsible decisions. Some you can pick up and move...others...not so fast or HARD NO. Its why insurance is so high, too many stupid people making bad decisions. Couple that with beginners, old people and tourists...yeah. Toss in milennials...BOOM. Every geographical region has it's pluses and minuses. Yin to the Yang. Sweet to the Sour. I spent 14 f'n frosty miserable rotten years outside of Detroit, MI (Rochester Hills to be specific!) and liked very little of it. Not seeing the blue sky and sun between the months of Sept/Oct thru Apr/Jun...unacceptable. Then the weekends would come and it would rain? Snow. Sleet. WTF!!! Some years you'd be lucky for the $hit to start in late October and give up the ghost in April. That's a good year. Couple all of that with being raised in Cali and spending time in VA before calling Florida home in 79. Moved away in 85 to join the Army. Knowing full well what the winter was like there, and slogging it out shoveling snow, ice and sludge until the grass would turn green again and the trees would have leaves? UNBEARABLE. Moved back in 2000 and I'm NOT moving anywhere else but in this state if ever again. Yeah, Florida gets hurricanes. Not every year. We also get heavy rains that cause flooding and tornadoes in some areas. I'll gladly take it over that Sub-Arctic Winter frozen Hell toppled with potholes and people that want to carjack you for crack. We have to stay in-place because of my wife's animal sanctuary. Can't just leave them unattended and take off because a storm is barelling down. We lost both of our Florida panthers late last year. We still have a black bear, foxes, a bobcat (he has his own room in the house), lemurs, owls, goats, hawks and vultures. We have the normal cats, dogs and horses too! They're enclosed and still need care and to be fed. During the storm we made several walkabouts to check the integrity of enclosures and make sure the animals were okay. The bear was the only one that stressed out and needed Melatonin hidden in salted carmel brownies to stop her pacing and panting. She was monitored hourly after that. So, hell or high water we were staying. The ones that wanted to use it as an occasion to get liquored up and binge through their liquor cabinets...I have no sympathy for. They made a decison to go balls out during a natural disaster when you need all of your faculties...mental and physical to navigate what's being thrown on top of you. We were warned that that was going to make landfall somewhere between Cape Coral and Tampa Bay. We were told it was going to be a Cat 4 and maybe a Cat 5. You run from this if you can. You take personal affects and what's important to your family and book it. Yeah, the storm can change direction and it will. You constantly monitor the weather channel or radio station...both if available. As close to you as possible. There's a reason why we have a tax free period where we can stock up on storm related goods in Florida. Generators, chainsaws, gas cans, batteries, water. You prepare. For you and your family.

When you come through it...you reach out. Family, neighbors and friends. You do what you can, where you can. Help might not be as fast or even come. Even worse if you live out in the country. You can't rely on any government assistance to rescue you. Worse case you have to house extras, cut down trees, drag away debris and feed extras. This time God spared us. We fully realize how lucky we are and offer up our prayer of thanks to Him. Doesn't matter where you live. There's the sour to your sweet. The Yang to your Yin. Just don't be stupid and rely on others to make all the decisions for you. God has this.