Rebuilding after Hurricane Debbie
24 days ago
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- 24 days ago
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Galveston residents may not be able to rebuild..Fair or foul?
Comments (28)tricae - its both an issue of degree and future decisions. No we can't change the past. No we can't find places to live that are totally risk free. We are not talking the randomness of tornadoes in the midwest. There are places that are at risk for significant damage regularly and repeatedly and that's what we are talking about here. I think its stupid, not a word I use very often, to continue to rebuild in those areas where the risk is significant and one can pretty well determine that catastropic damage will occur again soon. I'm not sure what the threshold is -you pick one based on frequency - had to totally rebuild the house more than twice in the past 30 years? Or money - have to keep pouring money into levees that aren't going to hold, replace beach over and over and over so the house isn't in the middle of the ocean? (BTW I live near a town, Xenia OH, known as freakishly tornado prone and it can pass both these thresholds easily). How many millions if not more dollars have we spent trying to make the new New Orleans levee's better? There are already problems and no assurrances that there won't be another break. How many more millions are we going to continue to spend on a regular basis in New Orleans, that could be helping the disadvantaged elsewhere, so people can continue to live below the water line? Sure people have been living near the coast for 250 years in New England. I can't think of a time when significant areas of the coast have been evacuated on any routine or regular basis (you drove down to take those pictures, not something I would have done in Galvaston or New Orleans). But really, if the sea levels started to really encroach - are we supposed to build levees because someone's great great great grandfather lived in that old house? Things change. People move. Otherwise we'd all still be living in caves. Sure Chicago had some flooding. My mother is in Michigan and I went up to help with water in her basement. More standing water around my hometown than I've seen in a really long time. But it doesn't happen that often, - her house wasn't buried under a mudslide that happens every three years, or go up in flames every 5 years, her lot didn't disappear, and its not in an area that's costing millions to ensure that none of those things happen. As for feeling for the people in those areas. Just because we don't agree with rebuilding doesn't mean we don't care or donate to help people in time of need. I'm sure the areas that flooded in the Midwest are still struggling. A lot of people are hurting out there in many less dramatic ways. It would be nice to be able to help them....See MoreHurricane Ike aftermath
Comments (25)This is from the Gardening in Texas forum: Posted by beachplant 9b (beachplant@excite.com) on Fri, Nov 7, 08 at 12:04 Got e-mail today! finally! I've been to the community center a dozen times without being able to get online. Got confirmation today that I have a job also and that it means no break in service! YEAH! Rejected by FEMA and SBA, writing my apeals. Everyone on the island remains in wait pattern, wait on FEMA, wait on insurance, wait on UTMB-will we have jobs?, wait on city wait on permits-permits denied!, it's horrible and getting worse. The trees all look horrible, we haven't had enough rain to speak of, the water is still iffy, debris lines the streets, whole neighborhoods are deserted and without power, there is a dead horse on east beach rotting away, there is still curfew downtown, a lot of the business' aren't going to reopen...... It's very depressing here and getting worse. I'm working in the yard some but man is it dead out there, every time I rake up a pile of debris I think about what used to be there. Did find the brick sidewalk though, the tree covers part of it but found the rest under the debris. See ya'll at Mercer tomorrow. WE don't have any plants to bring but we'll bring pictures and smiles! Thanks to everyone for their concerns and prayers-the church groups have done more for us than anyone else, federal, state or local. We can never thank them enough! Even the Mennonites have sent food! Tally HO! This was my post in reply: Posted by drewsmaga (My Page) on Tue, Nov 11, 08 at 2:39 Tally, may I cross-post your update to the GW Kitchen Table? I've been posting there with updates I've gotten from the Chronicle, local new, and my horror when we went to Galveston a few wks. ago & saw how bad it was. I'm astounded that FEMA has abandoned TX with this hurricane (heard on on of the news @ 6 last night that local governments are begging FEMA for at least the same amount of aid Katrina victims got, b/c it ain't happening here in TX. My heart goes out to all of y'all in Galveston, Oak Island, Surfside, Gilchrist, Anuhuac, and so on and so on. . . I'm trying to keep this in the national attention. . . I am SO disturbed that the rest of the country has abandoned y'all. . . . Pat, safe in The Woodlands This is Tally's E-mail to me: Yes, please! I am trying to get the word out to as many people as I can and of course I thought of all of us on the gardenweb, we are from everywhere and we all talk! FEMA keeps doing stuff 30 days, 30 days, then the city or the state or the county has to try and get it extended for another 30 days. Why would anyone think that you could clean up after this in 30 days! And the idiot in charge said that housing wasn't going to be a problem in Galveston because all our damage was from wind and not flooding!!!! I guess he didn't watch the news, oh, wait, there was no news! The city imposing a media blackout didn't help at all. The state also had a no-fly order over the area. And then we had to compete with the election and the economy. Plus we didn't stand on bridges and wring our hands while holding out one hand. Good thing cause FEMA isn't any better. They had food and water to give out, but the city wouldn't let us in! Then they stopped giving out supplies, well, 80% of the homes were damaged or destroyed, a lot of people aren't home and won't be for months or years. Still no trailers in site, people are living in tents, cars, moldy houses, gutted houses, 15-20 people living with relatives. The people in public housing have it the worst, They didn't let them get their stuff out, they just left the apts open & moldy & put a big fence around the places. They are all in limbo. The city was going to let them in to get their belongings, the second floors of most places were OK. Of course by now that stuff all has to be moldy and smelly. Tally HO!...See MoreRebuild after fire
Comments (16)Thank you all for your thoughts and comments. @cpartist My two oldest are not the same sex. We have b/g/b/g/b. I thought about getting a twin over full bunk bed for my youngest's room so that there is an extra bed for when my oldest comes home on break/summer. As for the bedrooms on both sides, I thought the same as well. But bedrooms in front along one side are okay, right? @DLM2000-GW We have a full basement. The block foundation on the Cape Cod side of the house was replaced in 2010. The foundation in the 30x30 addition is poured concrete and was done in 2011. We don't want to change that much and if we add on it will be a crawlspace because of the elevation. Otherwise, we would've done a slab because the basement is big enough. @ILoveRed I am sorry about your fire. It is a devastating thing to go through. As for the insurance company, there was never a honeymoon period! I have hated our (very young, personality-less) adjuster from day one. I have been ready for a fight the entire time. Of course, nothing has happened yet so we haven't had to. He is still "working on his numbers". We are hoping to demo and start over. Who decides if you repair or rebuild? Why wouldn't you use the same foundation? What percentage does a public adjuster usually make? @remodeling1840 I do want to go with 5 bedrooms. My hubby is thinking 4 but we've got 4 big kids, they're not small anymore and they need space! @User The attic/second floor roof is gone (except for the very front), most of the second floor walls are up except for the side where it started. The first floor has severe water damage and the ceiling has fallen in the majority of the rooms but the walls are all up. It gets worse each time we go there. We are trying to see it as a sort of adventure and with the best attitude possible because being miserable doesn't help a thing. We are thankful and blessed. We are all safe. Everything else is replaceable. We even managed to salvage photo albums that were in the attic! @Cyndy We don't have a slab. We have block and poured concrete walls so we will have a big, open hole in the ground to start with (again!). I have no idea what the time frame is with the insurance. Our adjuster hasn't given us his estimates yet on the structure....See MoreRe: Hurricane Ian. After the Storm.
Comments (22)The premise and title of the linked article relate to "evacuation being impossible". I haven't heard of any such reports but do you know, were any of the fatalities people who died while complying in a timely manner with evacuation orders? "Government culpability", to the extent there is any, isn't responsible for weather phenomena. It would be a challenge to name many, if any, states or local governmental entities to hold up as examples of high-level performance and achievement. In the end, the effectiveness of laws and policies depend on the actions of competence of elected officials, to enact needed laws, and the work of governmental employees to carry out their needed functions. Not enough of them are as capable as their jobs require. I think everywhere has examples of government dysfunctionality leaving people without infrastructure and services they expect and need. It's certainly true where I live. At other times, the forces of natural phenomena create problems beyond what may have been expected. (Remember the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989? A whole section of the top level of the two decker Bay Bridge broke off at one spot, sending moving vehicles to the deck below and causing a few fatalities as I recall. Nearby, an entire raised freeway collapsed, killing over 40 people. Were these avoidable?) At times like this, it needlessly makes people vulnerable in ways that could have been avoided. It's too bad but it is reality....See MoreRelated Professionals
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