Aloha,
I am working on removing a million residents from a region that FEMA has designated as being "Hurricane-Prone" and "Hurricane Susceptible" regions.

I have found the FEMA definitions already and what I am looking for is WHEN did they come out with these definitions.

The entire State of Hawaii is in both designations. The entire State of Florida is only in the second designation.

I have created a blog with the definitions listed and some reasons why the entire State of Hawaii shouldn’t be classified with Florida.

http://www.city-data.com/blogs/blog22872-do-you-really-need-hurricane-insurance.html

If I can locate dates when FEMA adopted the definitions it would be great. If there is any description of how they made their determination that would be fantastic.

Note: I already have tracked down things about wind speed etc… The issue I am working with is Maui, Oahu, Molokai and Hawaii Island all got lumped in with Florida and Kauai even though they are not prone and not susceptible to hurricanes.

Philip Maise
Pahoa Hawaii

Typically I am an over-planner. I worked really hard on my evacuation kit last year and I plan on adding/updating it this year. I have searched tons of sites and made notes on what to do and plan for. I was just wondering if anyone out there has any other helpful, been there done that, tips for hurricane evacuation plans?

I have a trunk packed with supplies (we have a dog and a cat) ready to be loaded in a car at a moments notice. It has a crank radio, some pet supplies, emergency information, preplanned routes and hotels that allow pets, some small things like battery powered candles, tools, ect.

I have various items through out the house marked with hurricane stickers so that anyone in the family can easily see that its marked and that it needs to be packed.

I have all of our photos scanned and saved to a drive along with important papers (contacts, insurance, health) in a fire proof/ water proof safe.

Do you have any other helpful tips?

I live near the ocean and my insurance company wants me to have "Pre-drilled" plywood for protection against hurricanes. has anyone done this before in CT?

Her house and barn were covered under her flood insurance. Living on the coast you must have regular home insurance, flood insurance and wind insurance. My question is about the barn. The barn was huge, but old and in very bad shape. The roof was partially caved in and all the windows were blown out..and dangerous to go into it. It looked like a total loss..but her insurance coverage on the barn was ,000. The mortgage guy and the claim adjuster both told her to use it or lose it. My brother and I thought she should use the money to tear it down and start over..which is what we thought she was doing. You probably wouldn’t get alot done for that amount of money but it would be a start for sure. When we came to see her recently they were rebuilding the barn. She thought she had to fix the barn and did not think she could re-build it from scratch. I disagreed with her. If your house was a total loss, you would start over. This barn was a total loss. I feel like she was pressured into re-building the barn…and she never mention to them she wanted to start over on the barn. Wouldn’t you be able to use the money either way..fixing or starting over..it’s all toward the barn..what do you think??

After 9/11, what’s next? Sept 11, 2008

Today is our opportunity to treat Jesus. How can we serve Him?

Do we allow Him to live under a bridge? Do we allow Him to live in a cardboard box? Is He hungry? Does He have water to drink? Does He have a place to bathe? Do we turn Him away if He doesn’t have any money to pay for shelter?

If He is behind on His property taxes, do we put His place up for auction and evict Him? If He is behind on His rent, do we kick Him out into the street? If He is drowning in the floodwaters of a hurricane, do we let Him drown?

If He applies for food stamps, do we terminate His benefits if He fails to supply proper documentation? If He applies for social security, do we deny His claim? If He needs medical care or medicine, do we turn Him away because He has no insurance? If He needs dental care, will we treat Him?

Jesus said, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me".

When God allows jets to crash into our buildings killing thousands of our countrymen, do we have a right to turn to this "Jesus", the One we treat so maliciously? Surely we worship Him in vain, and our hearts are far from Him.

What does 9/11 mean? If we do not repent and treat the poor and oppressed believers in Jesus more nicely, what’s next?

Michael Wynne

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Temple_of_the_Lord

1. A steel building has never burned down before
2. The twin towers were built to with stand more force from wind daily then the force of the plane crashing into the towers
3. Mayor Rudy Giuliani had hurricane proof glass put all the way around his buildings floor and his own air & water supply for the same floor put in shortly before 9/11(why would he do that if he didnt know what was going to happen?)
4. Right before 9/11he twin towers that were paid for with tax dollars was leased to a man named Larry Sliverstein who changed the security in the towers 1 month before they fell…and this same man made millions of dollars in insurance money when the towers fell
5. According to all the papers the terrorists could not fly at all… they were failing flight school but i am supposed to believe they were able to fly a 757 into the pentagon making a 250 degree turn flying inches above the ground hitting the only part of the pentagon that had been strengthened for a terrorist attack

Our complex suffered a devastating amount of damage during Hurricane Katrina. The managers will not board all of the windows in the complex. How do I protect my bedroom window from the storm. Tape isn’t any good really when the winds are strong.

Any advice?

Also, yes, I know about evactuation, preparedness kits, etc. etc. I’ve lived on the coast all of my life and have dealt with many a storm…but always in a regular home and never in an apartment.

@TXBardTo…

it isn’t the complex job to protect my personal belongings, it is mine. the fact is they will not board up or shutter windows, they never have. what is inside my apartment is still my responsibility and i any damages from wind/rain isn’t covered on my insurance. the complex will not pay either. so i am taking the preparations necessary to protect my property on my own.

i may board up from the inside, but i’ll need help doing so.

• Only 2 percent of the federal government’s hurricane-related funding went toward education recovery.

• The costs of hurricane destruction in K-12 and higher education were estimated at .2 billion, but only .2 billion in federal funding had been committed to restoring physical structures and property. Some rebuilding funds have come from the local and state levels and insurance, but several projects are unfinished.

• Displaced students re-enrolled in schools in 49 states, but a lack of adequate federal funding meant that schools with the greatest number of displaced students had insufficient classrooms, staff and supplies to support them. The report found that as many as 15,000 K-12 public school students and 35,000 college students in Louisiana and Mississippi missed school last year due to lingering problems associated with Katrina.

• Nearly one out of every six students in Louisiana’s public colleges and universities dropped out for the 2005-06 school year. In the 2006-07 school year, more than 26,000 students from Louisiana public colleges and almost 9,000 Mississippi college students remained out of school.

My husband and I are planning a trip to Jamaica in July…I was told that was during hurricane season but the person who told me that could recall when it started and ended. Help us out please?
of course either way we are getting travel insurance.
My husband’s not going to be here after July so we’re trying to go then. If I could change it I would.

Entomology departments on various univeristy websites in my local area define the type’s of termites that are destructive to housing structures to be localized to regions several hundred miles north and west of the area I’m in.

also they do not include actual data about these pests, nor do they post information about migration of the pests.

So my question is probably that of a scientific one. .

Mathmatically, if there’s no termites why buy a termite bond to cover you for damage, if by reason of sanity, you have far more things to worry about to spend with your money on, like "hurricane" and "fire" insurance .. or even crime based losses, that could be covered in general home owners insurance.

That kinda logic makes me want to belive, that termite bonds might be good if you lived say. in a termite suspect area.

I honestly don’t know what the termite data is, because I can’t get to it. and when I DO try to look, the only people supporting the data are PEST CONTROL companies..

So this is why I belive termite bonding is a scam.

I plan to move to florida and want to chose the safest place to live and also to be able to get homeowner insurance. thanks for all information.

Their was a tornado locally, so I decided to investigate it and shoot photos of it. However, the police had the public roads leading into the town closed. I was unable to go to where I wanted to get the photos I needed. They let other vehicles and media through. But I was unable to. I was however allowed to park and walk. While there was debris, the roads were drivable. And as I mentioned they allowed some people to drive through but not others. I even came through one road one way, but for some odd reason, they would not let me go back through. I had to find an alternative route home.
Can they prevent people from going through towns that are disaster area’s like this? Don’t photojournalists have certain rights? Can they allow some media outlets but not others? And how do you go about getting access as other journalists, media, construction workers, or insurance agents have? It seems like some photographers are allowed full access but others aren’t.
And how would one acquire a press pass? When I spoke with a photographer with one of the local papers in the past about getting a position with the paper or as an independent photographer for them, I would need to have a portfolio first. Well it’s hard to start one when your unable to gain access to these types of situations. I thought press passes were simply documentation from the paper or media company you are working for to state your with them, nothing being of an official government type of credentials. I didn’t think they were needed for these types of events.
I asked a question, but apparently people would rather insult and discourage others while not even trying to better the situation for other photographers.
Hokielover01, I’m sorry, but where do you have the right to tell others what they are qualified for or not especially when you do now know anything about the person. I guess it must be a ego issue on your part, or maybe you are just scared someone could do a better job then you can do?
First of all, just because you have a press pass for some newspaper does not mean you know anymore then someone else. I do realize the risks. I think I am more then competent to understand the dangers of power lines and other risks. And more likely more then you.
First of all, I am a professional photographer. God forbid If I wanted to supplement my income by doing some freelance photojournalist work. I would like to know how I would get in the way of some idiot like you? I think I have a little more processional courtesy then that, but I guess you couldn’t realize that because I asked a question.
It’s people like you that actually ruin photographers good names. Its also people like you that think because you have a camera and can snap pictures of a disaster you think you’re a real photographer. Now I truly understand why photographers say photojournalists have no real photography skills. Because obviously with your quick to putdown attacks, you are a pretty defensive because your obviously very scared.

Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to recently released data, as the industry continued to struggle with competition from other media outlets and the Internet. They have all the reasons one could ever want or not want to hear. My family and friends and I believe it is for reasons no one has addressed or for that matter will address. It is the same tired story the guy in the pouring rain “the hurricane is getting closer”; the snow, the shoot out, theft or murder. Today’s media would never have survived a day with the media of old. They do not want to do news they do not want to get dirty or look under a rock. It either cost too much or in the long run it could cost them. Recently I suggested our tired rag of a paper report on modern snake oil men. That is businesses who are legal but don’t tell you everything. For example we all have seen the ad where the company offers to take over your insurance settlement that is being paid you in installments paying you a one time buy out. What they are not telling you is many times you only get 50% of your settlement. The income tax preparer who offers you a quick loan many times at 40%. The company that gives you a quick loan on your cars title (the military have placed them off limits) if you do not pay it ALL back the remainder is penalized 150% each day. The companies who advertise no interest or payments on your furniture for two years. Then on the first day it is due if the entire amount is not paid penalties are added for each month you could have been paying. News? Certainly is and is helping the public many of which do not understand matters like this and count on the government to protect them. Do you agree?

I am not the owner of the building. I do not pay rent but I provide continuous maintenance for the building both inside and out. I provide all protective insurance coverage, including hurricane coverage. I pay garbage pickup; water, electricity for security outdoor lighting; alarm system for the building; Installed protective storm shutters to the building. I pay continuous lawn maintenance; upkeep of parking lot; installed security fencing around building, etc. Does these things constitute a form of payment in lieu of rent? Does the building owner and I have a landlord/tenant relationship?

The restaurant I am employed with has been closed for over a month now due to flooding. We were expecting it would be closed for two weeks, MAYBE, but it has turned out to be much longer.

My boss told those of us who work full time that we can file for unemployment insurance, as well as disaster relief. I was waitressing 6 days a week.

So, while I wait for the restaurant to re-open (which will hopefully be in the next few weeks) I have been selling some things that I can do without, babysitting for families as much as I can, and now just this week I have decided to file for unemployment and the disaster relief.

The unemployment is something that will effect the weeks from now until I am able to work at the restaurant again, and the disaster relief is back pay for this past month.

My questions:

Is unemployment or disaster relief something that I pay back, like a loan, or is it more like a "grant." - For lack of better metaphor?

Will this increase the taxes I pay month to month? I told them to take income tax out of the checks right away.

Will this affect my credit score?

Thank you for any info you can provide.

The restaurant I am employed with has been closed for over a month now due to flooding. We were expecting it would be closed for two weeks, MAYBE, but it has turned out to be much longer.

My boss told those of us who work full time that we can file for unemployment insurance, as well as disaster relief. I was waitressing 6 days a week.

So, while I wait for the restaurant to re-open (which will hopefully be in the next few weeks) I have been selling some things that I can do without, babysitting for families as much as I can, and now just this week I have decided to file for unemployment and the disaster relief.

The unemployment is something that will effect the weeks from now until I am able to work at the restaurant again, and the disaster relief is back pay for this past month.

My questions:

Is unemployment or disaster relief something that I pay back, like a loan, or is it more like a "grant." - For lack of better metaphor?

Will this increase the taxes I pay month to month? I told them to take income tax out of the checks right away.

Will this affect my credit score?

Thank you for any info you can provide.

I know the answer. I just wanted to see if you did. The answer is that there is an endless supply of northerners that come to the state after selling their home. So real estate agents/ sellers in Florida can ALMOST charge anything they want. But those folks that move down here usually don’t know the downside to Florida. They don’t know how bad a hurricane really is, or that the cost of living down here is much higher than they thought, or that wages are low, or that crime can be very high, or that social services are not the greatest because od a low tax base, or that homeowners insurance is the highest in the nation, or that the sense of community is not very tight, or that the public schools rank quite low, or that etc… You can’t really warn them beforehand. Gotta find out the hard way like me.
It really isn’t like Disney World.
And also, employers always have an endless new crop of employees to choose from. Keeps the wages low.

***Aggregate supply will increase, decrease or remain the same for each of the follwing?
A New sources of silicon are located in Wyoming.
B New laws result in an influx of highly educated immigrants.
C. A hurricane destroys 50% of the nation’s oil refining capability.
D. A new process for producing glass revolutionizes the industry.
E. If government regulations force employers to provide dental insurance, the SRAS?
F. Congress votes to increase farm subsidies by 15%.
G. Congress votes to substantially increase the minimum wage.

We live paycheck to paycheck. Made the mistake of moving to Florida. We got here a year before all the hurricanes started coming (we’ve been hit by 4 directly). Now housing is through the roof and even if we could get a place (we rent right now) the insurance co’s are running like rats on a sinking ship and the ones that are staying are raising their rates 50 - 99% (no joke). We want to move to Colorado but have no extra money. There’s really no expenses to cut to save, except to stop eatting. Last year we lost 00 because of lost food, ice, batteries and other emergency supplies thanks to the hurricanes. It’s like a trap, we can’t afford to live here and can’t afford to get out! Open to suggestions. Thanks.

Work hurricane catastrophe insurance claims. Work snow ice wind storm hail fire floood claims. Any insurance training needed. Any insurance licensing needed?

We are trying to buy homeowners insurance b4 hurricane season…we live in fl. but i wanted to know the right answers to ask the agents when i am shopping for quotes. Is there any? what are the basic questions? i want to make sure i’m covered for all the right stuff and i get what i want and need. thanks for all of your help!

Like Hurricane/flood insurance and stuff.

My home insurance agency denied my claim after hurricane dolly. They said they couldn’t cover my home because there were no broken windows an no missing shingles. Is there anything i can do or should i just settle for their discussion?

I have never made a claim before so I need a little help.

So far I have already received an insurance check (not deposited) for my roof, fence, and some food.

I was told I could claim the removal of my tree, maybe part of my generator costs, and definitely the cost of the gas to keep it going for nearly two weeks.

Is there anything I might be missing?

Houston, TX
American Risk Insurance Co
HOB policy with all of the endorsements.

I was in Cancun last Wednesday thru tomorrow (8/22) but got scared and caught a Delta flight out on Sunday due to the approaching hurricane Dean. The hotel was being evacuated. Will Funjet give me anything back on my all inclusive since I had to leave? I bought their travel insurance.