The Price of Fleeing Hurricane Michael: ‘We Are Going to Be Financially Devastated’

I wonder how many of the folks who suffered either the complete loss of their homes or will have very large repair bills as a result of the hurricane have had similar problems in the past. As a taxpayer it galls me that some people whine about hoe=w expensive the repair or replacement of houses are due to natural disaster that are so very predictable. I would also wonder how many of these folks have already cost taxpayers billions of dollars in replacing one or more prior residences damaged by similar storms in the same part of the country. We are all adults and have a responsibility to ourselves and our families to make good choices when deciding where to live. If I choose to live in an area that is in the regular path of hurricanes then there is no reason for taxpayers to subsidize that choice by paying to repair or replace my home. The ability to access federal funds to repair or replace a home destroyed or seriously damaged by a predictable natural disaster such as a hurricane or a flood should be limited to once in a lifetime.

Hello , Greetings from Panama City . I thought I would share with you as having been present for Michael. Michael gain strength quickly and the time afforded to make a decision to evacuate became limited. In addition, most of the community understands that should you evacuate, reentry back may not occur for days. So each of us made what was the best choice for us. Like all communities, we have an economically diverse community. 10 days in we are still without power in hot and humid weather, but are grateful to be alive. Strangers from around the Country and even Canada have arrived to assist us in an effort to get back to as normal a life as possible. Owners of major businesses are attempting to get operational so they can keep their employees paid, even though most are without buildings. We are actively seeking out those with the greatest need in our community and are offering help. So what has this experience taught me? Preparation for a hurricane is a good thing. My family did that. Preparation will never be perfect, because Mother Nature will always provide you with surprises. If you want to honor my community, take a moment or two to get to know your neighbors. Make a mental note of those who are elderly or may need assistance. Include them and their pets as part of your plans. Remember judging others is a luxury for those who are safe & secure. It doesn't exist when your community is in shambles. Be always grateful. Gale, Panama City Fl

These people who say they can't afford to evacuate: have you seen the photos of Mexico Beach? If one stayed at home in those neighborhoods, they would be dead. Is that better than planning all year for an evacuation? I live in the Virgin Islands. We got hit by Irma, and these islands will get hit again. One has to prepare for hurricane season. Buy a big plastic container, put the things you will need for an evacuation in it, put a little cash aside every week (I know, I know, but cut back somewhere else. You are spending money on something that it isn't rent, food, or medications). If you do stay in place for a low category hurricane, you will need to have drinking water for several weeks, canned food you want to eat, several pounds of pasta, several pounds of rice. Buy during the winter, and eat it next November and Winter if your hurricane season was slow, start over again in the Spring.

I thought the state would turn schools and such into shelters? Is that not correct, or did these people not know about that? Of course, that does not address the problem of lost pay. I thought disaster relief covers that? I guess I really don't know what (if anything!) the government does to help folks in a disaster other than put out fires... Or maybe Florida's government is especially not helpful. That wouldn't surprise me, since they keep electing Republicans, who believe it's every man for himself.

This is a sobering reminder of how many people in this country are just a few hundred dollars away from real financial hardship.

Do these people not have homeowners insurance policies? When a friend of mine's home burned in a fire in 2015, the homeowner's insurance paid for their housing until their rebuilt home was ready. It would seem that a "mandatory" evacuation (if it really is mandatory) would also entitle people to some form of coverage.

I've stayed and I've evacuated. The house is four blocks from the water and can take a Cat 3 and below - it's done that. Most family and friends told us were making a huge mistake staying for Florence. I read the NOAA forecast discussion. Our beach house rental flooded from the storm drain not the ocean and the house in Wilmington had trees through the roof and all over the yard. It rained here most of July and pine trees fall over easily with saturated ground. I evacuated for Floyd and got caught in the storm on the road. I stayed for Fran and saw all the original beach cottages and our pier fall in the ocean. It's expensive, stressful, and more dangerous on the road than it is in our house. We have storm shutters, two small Honda generators, a propane gas range, a propane water heater, and we filled the bathtub. After 25 years, we know hurricanes. However, anything above a Cat 3, we'll evacuate early. We do have family in the Blue Ridge Mountains. That's the hardest decision - stay or go. The preparation is completely different.

Agree evacuation is costly and repairs much more so. It is the reason we retired where we did. Other than the rare hail storm, wind storm and blizzards, that's it. I can shovel snow. Just like all the other places we lived in our lifetimes, we always had a backup generator, always either built or had a storm shelter that would survive just about anything, had put together bug out bags, had financial resources in other parts of the country (on line cash accounts work from everywhere these days). When emergencies happen, we get the call even though we are not emergency personnel, just neighbors. The military and boy scouts taught me to be prepared and it has worked our entire life. We have friends in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana with much the same mindset. During the hurricanes that hit their areas, they were a refuge for others. They had power, food, had built correctly and on higher ground. When Katrina hit, our friends down there ended up with 80 people they fed and took care of. Florida, right now, our friends are out with the chainsaws, skid steers and payloaders digging out their neighbors. Same was true in North Carolina. Their homes had minor damage compared to their neighbors. None of us a preppers but we are prepared.

Al Gore’s future is becoming reality.

I stayed for H. Sandy, since upstate only was getting the outer band. One foot of water in the basement, and not in a flood plain..the ground was saturated and there was no power to run a pump which didn't matter because any water pumped out would have sunk right back in through the soil. It took Sandy for our local elected officials to decide to spend the moola to put a sewer drainage system in and pave the road correctly, as the basements in our neighborhood were filling from road runoff. Thanks Sandy!! Photos and videos from your rain did more than any of the verbal requests over the years. Its real sad it takes weather events like this to get needed infrastructure projects done.

I lived 20 miles north of Louisiana on the Mississippi River, across the river from Greenville, Mississippi. When Katrina was coming, the town (Lake Village, Arkansas) filled up with people fleeing the hurricane. The state park packed RVs in every which way they could, and the commercial RV park stuffed in hundreds of campers. The few hotels were full. The Red Cross had a shelter across the river in Greenville. One sad thing was that after the refugees had been there a few days, the ads and posters started showing up for lost pets. Cat lost from hotel. Dog lost from RV park. I felt so sorry for the pets and the owners. First they lose their homes in Louisiana and Mississippi, then they lose their pets hundreds of miles from home. On top of all that, there was no gas for cars in town. Strangers were stopping me asking, "Do you know where there is gas?" Six hours north of New Orleans and there was no gas to be had. In all of Greenville, only Walmart had gas. How do you go back home when there is little gas to be had between Memphis and New Orleans?"

Is there any way to form some sort of state, county or even national clearinghouse where people could volunteer to put storm refugees up for a week, a month or more? I know there would be some risk involved housing complete strangers but I feel many would take that risk especially for families or parents with children and the elderly. It can’t be a local effort because at the local level in these situations everyone needs help. But there have to be Good Samaritan alternatives to expensive hotels! And with the internet connecting us all surely there should be a way to organize something like that?

It cost $3 million per day to run a aircraft carrier, and billions to support wars, while China keeps laughing all the way to the bank. Most of these people will never recover. Hang out your flag and live in hope. The world takes pity on you.

The Front page of today’s Times speaks, make that screams volumes, with respect to the inequality that has taken our nation hostage. In one article we have the heart wrenching stories of average Americans struggling to cope with not only a hurricane but the financial ills that will follow them. In another article on America’s Royalty Prince Kushner it is described in nauseating detail how the new American ruling class have so constructed the laws and so used their at least temporary power to enrich themselves to an extent not seen since the days of Marie Antoinette. That this is all done with smoke and mirrors not to mention tons of money from questionable sources, The Steinmetz Family of Israel as well as Saudis and Quataris for financing or financial relieve, leverage to the extreme that should things go South you can bet these folks will walk away from their obligations, in fact they will in some way or the other become our obligations, the newly structured laws benefiting the rentier class insures this “ privatize the profit socialize the debt”, see ya at the club for lunch. Well done New York Times, people need to see the truth.!

Inequality and wealth for the few while the rest of the world struggles. New world order. Perhaps someone in Florida should contribute to their fellow citizens and their State. Wishful thinking. Florida: Billionaire population: 44 Mar 5, 2016 Billionaire net worth: $126.6B Industry with most billionaires: Food and beverage The 44 billionaires living in Florida have a collective net worth of $126.6 billion, and 27 made their own fortunes. The group of self-starters has a total net worth of $82.7 billion and includes the richest man in the state, Thomas Peterffy ($11.1B). He arrived in the U.S. in 1965 as a penniless descendant of Hungarian aristocrats who lost their fortune to the Soviets. He is now the chairman and CEO of Interactive Brokers Group. Another self-made billionaire of Florida is Shahid Khan ($5.9B). He came to the U.S. from Pakistan when he was 16 and created autoparts maker Flex-N-Gate. The privately-held company has nearly $4.9 billion in sales. Year: 2018 Total number of world's billionaires: 2794 Combined wealth: $9.2 trillion U.S. billionaires: 338 World's wealthiest individual: Jeff Bezos: $133 billion Year: 2008 Billionaires: 1,125 Combined wealth: $4.4 trillion U.S. billionaires: 470 World's wealthiest individual: Warren Buffett: $62 billion

A year after Irma tore through the Virgin Islands with sustained 185 mph winds my father is just now starting to rebuild his home. It took 9 months to complete the demolition of what was left after we refused to pay the first $84,000 estimate and did much of the work ourselves, taking our own work crew to the island at a fraction of that cost. Now we're waiting for the power company to turn on the construction power - the permit was approved last month but no one has come yet to the house site to reconnect. This is typical of the pace of reconstruction; every where I hear there are long waits for materials to arrive and when they do there are no workers to do the construction. Recovery from a disaster is a long, slow, tedious, numbing process. After the house was destroyed by Irma my father estimated three years before he could return. I'm hoping two.

Wondering if there is any sort of Hurricane network of sorts where people will reach out and offer to take in those who have to evacuate? Maybe people in coastal areas with hurricane damage potential could find "hurricane buddies" where they could agree to take one another in if their area is evacuated (distant enough apart from one another that they're not likely to both be evacuated). Facebook could use some good PR - they'd have the expertise to tackle some sort of online solution. Families should not have to hole up in a motel/hotel and watch their finances dwindle away. I'll bet that there are lots of people who'd share their homes with others where both have the same fears about hurricanes.

We are climate refugees. You will be too, sooner or later. After we retired, we left Houston in large part because it wasn't IF but WHEN our home would flood. We'd been through enough "weather events" to last us a lifetime. We moved to central North Carolina this summer in large part because it had relatively tame weather. Last month, before Hurricane Florence, we spent perhaps $100 and a day getting ready. Not a big deal for healthy retired folks with some means. Our only problem was no power for two hours. We didn't gripe. Disaster drills are far better than disasters. In Michael, just a month later, we lost power for 26 hours when a tree fell in Michael's winds and took out a major power line into our neighborhood. We spent $100 to replace spoiled food in our refrigerator. But we had the time and the money to do that. Plus, we have nice neighbors who help each other. In Texas, in the 1980's, I went with a friend who returned to her house two days after nasty flood water entered her house in a hurricane. The water had receded, leaving the floors thick with slime and mud, on both carpet and solid flooring alike. (Floors should not go "squish" when you walk on them.) I watched as she opened her fridge. Brown muck that looked ... and smelled ... like sewage, spilled onto our shoes. The moral of my story? If you haven't been a climate refugee yet, you will be soon. There is no "safe space" where Mother Nature is concerned.

Florida votes Republican for a governor and legislature that do not even allow the words "climate change" to be used in their state documents. I have limited sympathy. They need to decide whether their lives are ultimately more important than their guns or their religion. If they start voting for rationality and not ideology, I'll know they deserve the pity. And the government aid.

Something like 50% of Americans do not have an extra $500 for an emergency. How can they be expected to evacuate and afford to live someplace else without available funds of any kind? Yes, most Americans are that poor. Only one paycheck away from the streets. This is the real America. The one that hardly ever gets any MSM coverage. These people suffer for years and often never get back upon their feet.

Just a small correction re: Vanessa Feigel's comments (the military family): I was active duty at Hurlburt Field/Eglin AFB, Fort Walton Beach FL and my family was under mandatory evacuation twice for hurricanes during 2002-2006. ALL military families were paid travel vouchers and didn't lose any money at all due to travel/gas/hotel/food expenses, and continued to receive our military pay. My wife lost money at her civilian job, but other than that, the US taxpayers took very good care of us. The power went out in base housing both times when we were evacuated, and our renters insurance (USAA) even covered our freezer/refrigerator food losses! We didn't get rich with the evacuations, but we were "made whole" by the US taxpayers. I sincerely appreciate all of you.

I find it very unfair that the state allows you to be fired because you left a compelled evacuation area. It's time for Florida and all the states exposed to hurricanes to enact a law forbidding this.

As an Australian we get money from the government in the case of a disaster such as this, including income support if needed. It takes some time for the claim to be processed but would cover most of the costs these people have experienced. Is there anything like that available in the U.S?

Emergency authorities always think it is so easy for people to "evacuate", but the cost of doing so is too high for many people-- especially in rural areas. There are other barriers to evacuation as well which each county should investigate and develop plans to keep their citizens safe. The state of FL spends money on many foolish "crony" projects; spending money to help people evacuate to safe shelters is one investment in safe communities that should be an obvious choice. Not every county has buildings which can shelter citizens; that is wrong and should be changed. Rick Scott refused---like all Republicans--to plan for climate change. In fact the departments which should have collected data and done planning were denied permission to use the words "climate change". I hope that Gov. Gillum will push strongly to help FL citizens have safe shelters from the increased number of storms, sea level rises and electrical outages even if he does have opposition from the Republican state legislature. People in Florida need working shelters just like the people in Kansas and Oklahoma need tornado shelters that their state budgets did not allow. It is a matter of national security to have shelters for citizens.

In June 1972 Hurricane Agnes devastated most of Central PA all along the Susquehanna. The river crested at 32 feet above flood stage. Harrisburg looked like a war zone as did Middletown, Steelton, Halifax, and every community North beyond Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. All of these communities are hundreds of miles inland but rivers, lakes and streams rose as the rains continued in heavy torrents for hours. My in-laws house was almost lifted off its foundation and was flooded up to 6' deep on the first level. Everything was wiped out as was the rest of the neighborhood for miles and miles. My in-laws and bride to be came to my mothers house at 4 am after being ordered to evacuate as the Susquehanna poured of its banks for miles in every direction. The cost of recovery and evacuation was enormous. Trailers were brought in by the hundreds. Homes were gutted. Mountains of trashed appliances, furniture, toys, pianos, carpeting and the things of life were in piles 12-15 feet high on the curbs. My in-laws lived in a tiny apartment for almost a year others lived in government trailers. People and businesses were ruined financially, some forever. I won't forget Hurricane Agnes. I remember the smell of the muddy cleanup that went on for weeks. No phones, no heat, no refrigerator, no furniture, no air-conditioning, water to be boiled, and closed stores and institutions. The National Guard came. We could barely stay. Richard Nixon visited and left. It was total devastation and ruin.

You can be fired and not collect unemployment if you leave your job to evacuate. It’s considered “quitting.” The Law needs to be changed so leaving a job to evacuate when an order is in place won’t cost your job or collecting unemployment.

There are really only two kinds of people left living today in Florida. Those who have the good sense, the strength and the financial and social resources to go live somewhere else. And those who don't. Life is very unfair.

Looking at the photos of the destruction, I'm reminded of the callousness many in our government showed toward Puerto Rico, somehow blaming the island for its devastation by a natural disaster. Take the catastrophe we see in the Panhandle, add mountains, and throw in an already rickety infrastructure. That's what Puerto Rico experienced. I hope the people in the Gulf area can get back on their feet sooner than their fellow Americans in PR.