Home Insurance Debacle

[Nancy OShea]

Background: California & Florida homeowners are struggling to find & keep their homeowner's insurance.  Major insurance companies have stopped writing new policies and are not renewing existing ones. Underwriters argue that litigation costs combined with catastrophic weather events (fires, floods, climate change) have made insuring properties too risky.  Banks & mortgage lenders insist that real properties be adequately insured for the loan amount or else it's bye, bye mortgage.  

As some of you may know, we were planning on installing solar roof panels this year to reduce our carbon footprint and reliance on the electric power grid.  I've since learned however, that some insurance companies are using solar panels as an "exit excuse" from current protection policies. They claim that solar installation brackets compromise the home's structural integrity which renders it "un-insurable."

I see no way out of this mess until lawmakers step-in & take action.  So it looks like our dream of installing solar panels is on hold for the foreseeable future.  😓

[Leslie Moak Murray]

I just saw there's an 80-year-old woman who's refusing to evacuate. OMG

[Chuck Uebele]

Sad that she won't leave, but there always seems to be someone who doesn't listen to reason.

[Nancy OShea]

Twitter is flooded with similar stories — mostly of seniors refusing to leave because they have no place to go. The uncertainty of not having a destination or fuel to travel scares them more than the massive hurricane.  Deciding that they can 'ride this one out' is probably the last decision they'll ever make.

[Chuck Uebele]

Yes, it is very sad for people who have no where to go or no means to get there. I've always thought about that. One reason, earthquakes don't bother me - just bam, no time to prepare. I was often sent to FL for work, and when a hurricane would be predicted, they would send us inland to shelter - usually Orlando. One year, I think 1999, Huricane Irene came, and they thought it would miss Cocoa Beach, so they didn't evacuate us. Well it was a dead hit and just hovered there for a bit. Luckily, it was only a cat 1, but it took out the bridge acoss the causeway. In the morning, the winds were going one direction and a littler later, they were going the other direction, as the eye passed us. Here's a shot I took during it.

[Chuck Uebele]

Just an article on Axios Charlotte That stated insurance companies want to raise rates, here in NC, around an average of 42%. Here's a quote:

The proposed rates differ across the state, with the Rate Bureau requesting a 99% increase in some coastal areas, around 40% in Charlotte and around 20% in parts of the mountains affected by Hurricane Helene, AP noted.

[Nancy OShea]

There's growing concern that Florida's homeowners may be unable to find, much less afford, property insurance after Helene & Milton.  The few remaining insurers are taking major financial loses from these two disasters.

1 month into the current fiscal year, FEMA's annual disaster relief budget is almost fully spent.  House GOP refuse to expand the FEMA relief package until after the election. Never mind that peak hurricane season lasts until November 30. 😦

Meanwhile, power outages persist throughout the region. Biden announced more than half-a-billion dollars in projects for electric grid resilience.  However, it's unclear if Gov. DeSantis will accept or refuse the federal grant monies.  🤔

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/13/politics/biden-florida-hurricane-milton/index.html

[Nancy OShea]

Armed militias hunting FEMA hurricane responders in Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, NC. 

https://www.newsweek.com/armed-militia-hunting-fema-hurricane-responders-1968382

FEMA advised all federal responders in Rutherford County to "stand down and evacuate the county immediately."

What in God's name is wrong with these people?!! 

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Don't worry! It's not true

"North Carolina Sheriff Debunks Press Claims That Militia Members Are ‘Hunting’ FEMA Employees

An initial report in the Washington Post spawns a wave of alarmist headlines in other press outlets about Trump’s ‘Hurricane Lies’ potentially leading to violence in areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene."

https://www.nysun.com/article/sheriffs-department-debunks-press-claims-militia-members-hunting-fema-... 

[Chuck Uebele]

That's good that it was debunked. These days, it's hard to tell what's factual.

[Nancy OShea]

Armed (open carry) group threatened FEMA workers in Tennessee, too.  

Local sheriffs can downplay all they want, except to eyewitnesses who were actually there.  Connect the dots, people.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4936262-fema-threatened-armed-group-tennessee/

[Leslie Moak Murray]

It was one guy and he was arrested. All the erroneous reports are pretty much word for word the same, too.

This article is part of The Globe’s initiative to cover dis- and misinformation. Email us to share tips or feedback at disinfodesk@globeandmail.com.

Claims that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers in North Carolina were being targeted by a “truck load of militia” have been debunked by local police.

A suspect was arrested on Oct. 12 after police responded to a call that an armed man had made comments about possibly harming FEMA employees. FEMA has been a major part of disaster response in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene including Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

William Jacob Parsons from Bostic, N.C., was charged and released on a US$10,000 bond over the alleged incident. A statement by the Rutherford County Sheriff in North Carolina said Mr. Parsons was armed with a handgun and a rifle and that “Parsons acted alone and there were no truck loads of militia going to Lake Lure.” Lake Lure is a small town in western North Carolina.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-no-an-armed-militia-was-not-hunting-fema-workers-in-no... 

[Chuck Uebele]

I don't doubt that something like that happened, but I'm hoping it isn't getting to this order that the entire story isn't being told. I've seen a lot of post by rescue and aid groups that have had to hide their donations, as "government agencies" are coming in and confiscating them, then redirecting the supplies to other areas and taking the credit for the supplies. I remember my brother trying to work with FEMA, when his house was damaged in an earthquake- it was an exercise in red tape and frustration. And that was a pretty small disaster area, unlike Helene which was massive. I can see why people are getting frustrated and mad, but violence isn't the answer. Having only lived in NC a short time, I have gone into the real deep back areas, but I've run into a few whom I wouldn't want to cross.

[Nancy OShea]

I've seen a lot of post by rescue and aid groups that have had to hide their donations, as "government agencies" are coming in and confiscating them....

By @Chuck Uebele

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If it's posted on the Internet... 🙄

Sadly, when disasters strike, so do scammers & opportunists pretending to be something they're not.  Corrupt scoundrels know no borders. They operate all over the world.  For this reason, I make contributions to specific relief funds & agencies that I know and trust. 

[Chuck Uebele]

Yes, always have to take what's posted on the Internet with not only a grain of salt, but the whole shaker.