There are two insurance adjusters in the spot next to me. As I was talking to one yesterday evening, he stated that it would be 5 years before full recovery. What you see in the link provided above is only the tip of the iceburg. We had local 24/7 coverage while in Willis, TX, waiting out the storm. (Generator running) and the amount of devastation is is very, very bad.
Will we learn from this? Not by much.
Spending 3 years on the Island of Okinawa, Japan, we encoutered 4-8 Typhoons a year with winds in excess of 150 MPH. Seldom did we loose electricity, and when we did it was because some idiot ran his car into a transformer station. Why did we not loose power? Because since the inception of Typhoons, every time they had to rebuild on the island, they put all services underground. The houses were rebuilt with poured cement walls and flat roofs. They withstood the Typhoons. We weathered the storms in our quarters, without the windows being taped up. Think about it. 150 MPH winds and you have your window taped. Now instead of little shards of glass you have a whole sheet of glass flying at you that can take your head off. We never tape windows anymore. We do board them up. Oh! And those Japanese houses made of Cement. Well each window had an outside recessed area on each side of the window. When a storm was coming, we went out side and pulled a sliding panel from each side and hooked them in the middle.
The Gulf Coast has had hurricanes since the beginning of time, but they refuse to rebuild to a safety standard that will withstand the brutal force of a hurricane. Why?
I feel very sorrowful for the loses that have been incurred. I am very fortunate to not have been a statistic of this powerful storm. Being so fortunate, I will contribute to the disaster relief fund after final evaluation of our stick house. We gave for Rita, and we gave for Katrina. There are many, many out there that are in need of support. Grocery stores in this area have a method of contributing $1, $5, $10, when you buy groceries. what's an extra dollar.
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