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Milton
- Thread starter TK4
- Start date
Could be worse. He could have been working in Hiroshima when the US nuked it then grabbed his stuff and took the train back home to Nagasaki.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi - Wikipedia
Mad Mike
Well-known member
We dodged a bullet, the Milton wobbled a bit north of Fort Myers. Video from a neighbour shows no damage, a little tree debris and minor flooding along the beach. Didn’t even blow over our potted plants!
Still no power, its scheduled to be trend on shortly.
Looks like my warm winter is back on.
Still no power, its scheduled to be trend on shortly.
Looks like my warm winter is back on.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Newer construction in FL is hurricane proof, walls are block with a poured slab and collar. Roofs are tied down, shingles and windows are cat 5 rated.
Flooding is the bigger issue. There are no basements, so it’s usually wiped out first floors and cars.
It’s astounding how fast things get put back together.
I think that's a common design in FL. Friend south of Fort Myers has a house on piers with floor a foot above expected storm surge height. His last hurricane swept away everything in the garage / parking / storage area below the house. They never found the car, but did find one of their kayaks hung up in a tree inland from the house. Most of the houses on his street were slab on grade and they were pretty much wiped out.
The idea of building a house and knowing it will likely be slammed by a hurricane just strikes me as crazy.
Plus paying premiums for the land
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I know plent of Floridians who think building a house where it’s goes below zero 150 days a year is crazy.
But at the end of the day your house is still there
Not to worry, there's hundreds of Canadian lineman crews on the way to save the day... again. There are linemen coming from all over... linemen are like that.
Everybody thinks the linemen are being selfless, magnanimous and civic minded... do you have any idea how much those guys make? ... AND they're getting union overtime rate, plus per diem, from the minute the get on the bus in Ontario till they get off the bus in Ontario.
Hydro One published a picture of the back of one of their trucks heading south... with the big sticker on the truck about how it's governed to 90kph for fuel economy... yeah that's a 3 day trip to Jacksonville... it should get there tomorrow. Remember when Quebec froze over? linemen came from all over to help (they always do)... and the guys from the southern states had never seen anything like that, some had never seen snow
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I think people get a distorted view. There are plenty of ramshackle houses that get wrecked, but the average suburban house is built to survive.
Wildfires in Alberta destroy more homes than hurricanes in Florida each year.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Our hood had mandatory evacuation so the utility company shut off the power. It takes a day or two to survey the network before turning it back on. Built up areas might take a week, maybe 2 weeks in outlying areas, but it comes back incredibly fast.
Friends sent some video clips today, it surprisingly good looking south of downtown Fort Myers.
Florida has the fastest growing population in the US and a fast growing economy. I don’t get it , our family sold the double wide about 10years ago. The “ northerners “ just keep pouring millions into the state , and for most it’s a balanced risk . I can’t afford the gamble .
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On the modular home front, my parents owned one for a while in a nice park in central florida. About 20k to buy, about 10k a year to keep and insurance would pay out 60k if it was wiped out. Not much risk there (as long as you weren't in it when it was wiped out).
I think a number of peope like the politics, but most important is the weather. For tax purposes Canadians are limited to about 5 months a year in the US. The guy I know likes to drive, so does his wife. They share the load and they do it in one shot with just bio and gas breaks, maybe a short nap in the car. They're back and forth 4 - 5 times a year. This guy has mega bucks and could have a southern property anywhere he wants. He loves Florida, his house is relatively safe, paid for, insured (for now anyway) and he leaves if a major storm is forecast.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
It's affordable, the cost of property is low, taxes are low and the weather is always summer. I don't see it any more of a gamble than buying a townhouse in Burlington that might plunge more in value this year than it would cost in Tampa.
To compare, around here a modest 1200sq' bungalow on a 60x110 is 1.5M and 6.5K/year in taxes. A 2000' house in desirable Fort Myers FL. metro would be USD 275K (CAD 400K) and USD 2K (CAD 2.7K) /year in taxes.
Another nice thing is a lot of communities have HOAs that take care of all the maintenance. While not for everyone, $600/mo to care for gardens, exterior of your home (roof, paint, windows and doors), internet/TV, hurricane/flood insurance.
I've always compared it to building a house at the bottom of a volcano. Not a matter of "if", but "when".
All houses in FNQ have to be cyclone ( hurricane ) proofed even resales.
It's not like building in a flood plain.....where there is a clear risk....a known water course.
There are thousands of KM of coastline and the risk of you being in the particular spot a cyclone lands is low. Sure a near miss can cause some damage....that's a big reason all the houses up here are cyclone proof. Living in a tornado prone area also has risks.
Our insurance coverage is based on how far we are above surge levels at high tide and of course this has changed over time.
Now Florida might be a special case due to it being surrounded by warming seas
Florida finally got legislation.
But a strong Cat 4 and any Cat 5 can overcome proofing but the house and the people will still likely survive and insurance claims reduced.
Cyclones/hurricanes ...except for Florida are random enough...flood plains???? are they STUPID!!!!
So "likely" is a hard question to answer tho in easier in Florida's case.
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