Hurricane Aftermath

[CaptnJohn]

Hurricane Florence came through the area I live. While it was bad it was nothing like Hurricane Michael that hit the Florida panhandle. Having spent time where Michael hit the hardest we decided to stay in the area for a month as my wife can help any economy anywhere. :lol:
We are staying at a nice and high priced CG. We have stayed here in the past. About 1/5 of the units here are of those that are rebuilding homes. Another 1/5 are from far away and are contractors. Many of those would be buried in snow and ice home along the northern border. There is a lot to be done yet rebuilding, tearing down, and repairing buildings. Tree and debris removal is still a priority.
We are supporting the business' that are open and tipping well. After all, now a local homeowner can pay $16,000 for a $5,000 roof job.
We are sad to see beautiful areas now in shambles. It is hard to imagine what many residents are going through. Although the area we live still has a way to go for a full recovery, we left for here as soon as our home and daughter's home was repaired. Many there are still suffering, but the numbers here are beyond the imagination.

[Tbos]

Thanks for the information and helping out the economy there. Stay safe.

[ken56]

Its shameful that some "contractors" turn into opportunists and charge exorbitant prices for common jobs. That needs monitored closer.

[sourdough]

We are in a campground with similar statistics (maybe even more of the "worker bees"). The stories abound about the exorbitant prices being charged by contractors for repairs, especially roofs. My contractor in TX that just finished a bathroom remodel before we left told me the other day his son is working in Mexico Beach doing roofs only. He contacted his dad and asked him to come help and told him the money to be made was unbelievable. The caveat was that you have to either be approved by FEMA or work for an approved contractor (his son is one). I advised from what I had seen here in 7 weeks I would be very leery about trying to come down and put together a crew; looks like every unemployed person in the surrounding states is down here trying to make a buck. A few weeks ago a group that had brought in 3 unregistered trailers was trying to leave in the dark and the sheriff's dept. showed up due to a ruckus. I visited with one of the deputy's about it and he said they were all over the place - called them "vagabonds".

I'm not sure what drives the high prices; if it's the contractors or the federal government. I know one of the guys here said that they are paid $800 for every load they put in a trailer and carry off - someone fills the trailer, you carry it to an approved dump area, dump it and return. As you can imagine, LOTS of big, self lifting trailers are running up and down the roads daily along with those that have a big arm that reaches out and grabs the debris then fills the trailer and compresses it.

We aren't in the area of major damage - went there but too much damage to try to find a place to stay anywhere near, plus, don't want to be in the way. We are about 80 miles E of Mexico Beach and damage here was not as bad as further W.

When we first got here a little church down the road had been hit with the surge. Out front along the highway was ruined sheetrock, boards, carpet, all kinds of debris...and their organ, all set out to be carried off. Pretty sad to us. Drove by Saturday and there the members were; all their cars and pickups parked, several with trailers opened and full of tools, ladders all over the church as they put on a new roof, replacing rafters, painting - like a little swarm of bees. Like the things that used to happen when I was younger - very uplifting. Lots of sadness and carnage but also lots of great people.