The Perfect Storm

[dafischer]

We had a storm related fatality in our neighborhood last week. Last Tuesday evening, one of our neighbors was doing some chainsaw work at the house across the street, for some other neighbors. He was cutting up a downed tree, and wound up cutting something that was pinning a limb that was under tension.
The limb released, and hit him on the side of his face. The backyard became a sea of rescue squads, EMS, and state police, and they wound up having him medevaced to a hospital with power. It wasn't a pretty sight from what I was told, and he was taken off of life support the next day. Pieces of his skull were imbedded in his brain, and there was nothing they could do for him.
He was a good guy, and would go out of his way to help anyone. It really made a depressed post storm mood even worse last week.

[widgeon13]

You don't hear these stories on the news, at least not up here. Just the politicians saying how much good their efforts are showing.

I'm tired of listening to F'in politicians! News coverage needs to interview more people in the streets and those w/o homes any more.

[Black968]

Hey, hope things are getting better down there. We have 8 Lineman in the Long Beach area last time I checked on GPS.

Cheers

[NeedSpace]

Oh, forgot one. THings are slowly getting back to normal, but the snow storm didn't help. This picture suggests there might have been some strong winds...

[widgeon13]

Some amazing before and after photography, slide your cursor over the pics for the comparison. Hope this works.

Aerial Photos of Hurricane Sandy Damage from NOAA's National Geodetic Survey

[Baz]

Any updates on the storm recovery?

[NeedSpace]

Just before thanksgiving, they ended the gasoline rationing for most of the area. From what I hear, almost everyone has their power back now. By the ocean, (long island and the jersey shore) had some particular problems and delays because they had salt water in their basements and the power companies didn't want to turn the power back on afraid that the power lines were compromised.

Now, we see the power companies going back around and making proper repairs to the lines that had a temporary fix. There are still quite number of downed trees leaning on houses that haven't been removed yet as well as crushed cars that are still in their driveways. All 4 cars I took photos above are still in the same place as when the storm happened.

Overall, day to day for most, we are back to normal.

[dafischer]

Just got the half of our Chestnut tree that fell in our neighbor's yard taken care of last Friday. We're almost caught up on work from our business being closed for 10 days (home office, no power). Glad we have a business interruption rider in our biz insurance policy.
Lesson learned: We're getting an estimate on a whole house standby generator tomorrow, one of our clients was by today and specced it out.

[Black968]

Our Lineman came back last Friday. I was talking to them and they said the biggest obstacle was the trees. No tree trimming program in place and $1500 permit required to cut down a tree! If your hydro company has no tree trimming program, you have problem. I am sure this is a local bylaw and not a Hydro policy. I am sure this will be discussed in the months to come.

[widgeon13]

National Grid stopped trimming a few years ago. Did it to cut cost. Shortsighted for sure.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

National Grid stopped trimming a few years ago. Did it to cut cost. Shortsighted for sure.

?? A few years ago they clearcut entire power line easments around here.

Here's a pic of about 1/2 of my storm damage:

I have a pile about 10' high, 15' deep and 100' long.....

[widgeon13]

They used to come in and trim the power line easements and stopped about seven years ago. Cost savings supposedly. Keep in mind we live in the Adirondack Park which is probably 96% dense woods. But for a long time they would systematically cut areas to reduce outages from sporadic wind damage, now they don't cut anything, it's all up to mean old mother nature. We get outages most any time the wind blows beyond 30 MPH and we don't get it back on in 30 minutes because outages are more prevalent throughout the park.

I have an installed 15kw and glad I do. Oh yea, and we pay through the nose for the power we get. During Irene most people were out for more than a week.

[TimT]

So far I have been denied claims from FEMA and my homeowners insurance ( Liberty Mutual).. I my flood insurance which is handled by Liberty Mutual is next..

I have undermining of the foundation of my house, lost all HVAC equip.... though I restored heat and hot water on my own out of pocket (yes I save every single receipt).

Some neighbors house are total losses...

I am out of pocket about $6k to restore my home... this does not include repairs to the foundation/basement slab...Since I am in the construction industry I figure abour $3-4K for those repairs...

Between my deciding to absorb losses from damage from previous storms, and my decision to try be compensated for monies I have proof of that I used to repair damages from this event..

Makes me despise insurance companies... in any way shape or form

and two of three of my insureres have denied my claims.

I actually have before and after pictures!

There is a portion of my basement where the floor is now hollow....you can feel the floor flex just by walking...

15 years with Liberty Mutual taking my money.... This is my first claim

And it denied...

Fuch them

and two of three of my insureres have denied my claims.

[Buckterrier]

Man dude I am really sorry. I'm with you on insurance companies. May I ask why they are not honoring their commitment?

[TimT]

Homeowners does not cover floods in my area

FEMA only steps in to make up the difference in the Owners coverage in certain instances

Flood insurance does not cover "contents" So everything I had stored in my basement is not covered... There are some rare Porsche parts down there that I will be looking at soon to evaluate.

I may have been my own worst enemy in this situation... I could have walked away from my house and sought shelter in other place, Instead I chose to stay, and get my basic creature comforts restored on my own...

I rebuilt my steam boiler, replaced all the controls, washed my fuse box with fresh water dried it , cleaned all the connections ( I did this during the 10 days I was without power) replaced all the fuses..

When the FEMA inspector, and Liberty Mutual adjuster visited my home 10 days after the storm, they entered a house with electricity and heat...

I knew the adjuster from Liberty Mutual (homeowners) would say say my losses are not covered...

Now waiting for the Liberty Mutual (Flood) adjuster to honor an appointment

[Baz]

Hope you get some compensation Tim.

If I didn't still have a balance on my mortgage I would drop my homeowner's insurance in a heartbeat.

I have a few more years left (maybe 5) and I will be free to do what I want.

Good luck and let us know what happens please.....

[patssle]

Flood insurance does not cover "contents"

Is that a state thing or of the particular coverage you have? Because I asked my dad and his does cover contents here in TX.

[Black968]

Insurance Companies suck

[fritzgator]

Originally Posted by patssle

Is that a state thing or of the particular coverage you have? Because I asked my dad and his does cover contents here in TX.

I was wondering the same thing. i got 2ft of water in my home due to Isaac and i absolutely had contents coverage in my flood policy. what NFIP didnt have was loss of use coverage. i used some of my contents $ to get a trailer that i currently occupy in my front yard waiting and battling w ins/FEMA/SBA glad i moved the 911 to safety beforehand as everyone whos car got wet, gets totaled. flooded = no resale, straight to the crusher.

[TimT]

i absolutely had contents coverage in my flood policy.

OK its been a strikeout.... FEMA denied, Homeowners wont even bother...

Flood $8000 deductible..

3 strikes and yer out...

I have reviewed my flood insurance policy many times in the past two months..

It clearly states

"Total Contents Coverage= $0"

They will pay for damage to the physical property, repair to foundations, replacing drywall, insulation, replace your boiler/furnace/hot water heater/fusebox/receptacles etc...

But they will not pay for the couch or easy chair.... nor will they pay for all the clothes you had stored in your basement, or the tools on the workbench that was in your basement...

They give monies to restore your home to a state it was prior to the event... they will not pay for improvements, and they will not pay for the "things that were in your home"

OK Sandy cost me about 10K considering lost wages, and perhaps a bit more now that I have some stormproofing ideas having witnessed Sandy...

And yes

Insurance companies SUCK