Cloud remains over Fla. months after hurricanes

[spinbaby]

Not a surprise to those of us that have been in Florida recently:

After Hurricane Ivan pummeled the community of Grande Lagoon last fall, residents bustled to salvage what they could from their shattered homes.

But now the neighborhood in the Florida Panhandle is as quiet as a ghost town. Most residents are gone, many likely never to return.

Linda Landers says she is struck by the devastation that remains five months after Ivan came ashore Sept. 16. "You don't see much of a change," Landers says. "It's the same blue roofs, the same busted windows. You don't hear the sounds of a neighborhood anymore. Occasionally you'll hear a hammer in the background, but mostly it's silence."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=710&e=18&u=/usatoday/cloudremainsoverflamonthsafterhurricanes

[XanaDUer]

1. This sucks for a lot of reasons

the panhandle is a hotbed of organized christian fundamentalism. Now these freaks are going to move to other areas and infect them.

[donsu]

3. LOL - how true

nt

[geomon666]

2. I know the feeling.

Went through Andrew myself. Spent the night in my fathers walk in closet. If I had stayed in my room, I probably would have been killed as the ceiling had collapsed in the middle of the night. The house was salvaged but we spent almost 2 months without electricity and eating MRE's the national guardsmen were handing out.

[donsu]

4. a lot of smirk's promised money and help never arrived

nt

[madfloridian]

5. This should not be happening in America. It is a sin.

That area is not the only one either. The Hardee County area and the Charlotte county area....both are still in limbo and shock. Local news occasionally shows brief pictures. This week Channel 8 is going to cover a family who has still not heard from FEMA.

But mostly people affected don't know how to fight back against the machine.

It is amazing how little publicity this has gotten. I have posted things, and they drop. It is heartbreaking.

I think the Punta Gorda FEMA village got about 8 hits.

[madfloridian]

6. Be sure to view the audio slide show....this needs a kick.

People have ignored this for just too long. Here is more from the article:

SNIP..."Mildewed furniture and piles of debris still line many streets in Pensacola. Laborers are hard to find, and prices remain inflated. Applications for permits to repair and build houses are caught in a backlog. Many residents who received insurance payments believe the amounts they got are inadequate, and they are hiring attorneys to fight for more. And many homeowners just decided to sell their property and not return.

"Two-thirds of the neighborhood is selling - they don't have it in them," says Vicki Woolford, who decided to rebuild.

USA TODAY visited the waterfront community of Grande Lagoon in Pensacola a week after Hurricane Ivan and returned in January to see how the neighborhood was rebounding. A Ford Ranger pickup that Ivan tossed into a swimming pool has been removed. But residents are still finding neighbors' possessions in debris behind their own homes."

The insurance companies are highly catered to by the Jeb administration. They have so many clauses and hidden things now that I wonder is there is any hope with another disaster.

[SoCalDem]

7. For a century, Florida has flirted with disaster

and of course disaster is a frequent "guest"... I know there are well-built homes in Florida, but I also have seen some very "ticky-tacky" haphazard sorts of buildings on coastlines and beside rivers.

When Florida was less populated, it was not such a big deal because the totality of the destruction was not what it is today.

Who in their right mind would build a community of hundreds of mobile homes for seniors...right on the water?? I mean.. sure it's "pretty"
and it makes it easier for them to launch their boats, but it's also putting hundreds of the most vulnerable Floridians in a very dangerous position. These folks often have few if any young relatives close to them to help them evacuate...and they are also of a generation that has a "let's ride this out" mentality, so disaster is likely..

The insurers bear a lot of the burden too.. They are always eager to sell policies to these elderly (and some no so elderly), and at high premiums too. But of course you only find out how good your policy is, when you make a claim, so lots of people gambled and lost everything..

I really feel that Florida (and other states) should embark on a campaign to "reclaim" coastal lands for public (undeveloped) uses. The same goes for the wild canyon & cliff areas of California. Another way to go would be a One Strike & y'er out policy. There's no reason on earth why ordinary non-risk takers' insurance rates should have to rise and rise, because "other" people decide to build where there should never be houses or permanent structures.

We have tried forever to "tame" nature, and we cannot.

[madfloridian]

8. But our county is inland 45 miles.

We have many here in outlying areas still in great need of housing. They are not rebuilding low income houses, as the fear is they have tapped into the resources at a federal level.

Hardee County, the city, Wauchula, were among the very worst damage. They are also inland counties.

We suffered and we pay just as much insurance as those who build along the coast.

I agree with your idea of leaving the coastal areas more in their pristine states. I just say that this time, inland was just as bad as coastal. Worse in some instances.

It shows our state, our country, are not ready for disasters. Private companies are getting away with murder, hiking up costs...insurance companies are screwing people.

It is a terrible thing which should not happen in America....unless we really are nearly bankrupt.

[lala_rawraw]

9. which asks the question...

how did they manage to vote???