[at-l] OT Hurricane Charley & Insurance

[RoksnRoots at aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

In a message dated 8/14/04 6:05:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
jbullar1@twcny.rr.com writes:

<<  He told me that when there were fires around him in 
 California the insurance companies cancelled policies en-mass to limit 
 their liability. He (and apparently many around him) lost insurance when 
 the fires began and couldn't get new policies until the fires were all 
 under control. Does that happen in FL when hurricanes come through? >>


          ***    No, apparently they sent a letter to policy owners a while 
back stating that new rules allow them to switch the deductable amount to 5% of 
the total value of the home. Having not had any serious hurricane here since 
Donna in 1960, most people probably griped a little and filed the letter away. 
Now they are finding this type of medium storm to be right under their 
deductable - but still very costly. 

         PS:

                   I got that 15 foot surge business from a local news 
website. Apparently someone went to the storm calculation book and quoted the surge 
for this type of storm. Charley was a strange storm and defied many rules 
because of his nature. Because of this we only got 3 feet of fast-receding surge. 
Maybe more up by the eyewall. Deaths were unusually low for the F-4 
tornado-like impact 25 miles to our north. 

        I stayed with people in the Red Cross shelter who told stories of 
being terrified in their prefab metal mobile homes as they watched the roof peel 
back in 145mph winds! Some had visible facial bruises and temporary casts etc. 
I heard a man crawled to the fire station on Upper Captiva as his home peeled 
apart. They couldn't get the door open to let him in because of winds! The 
fire station was the only building without serious damage...