Hurricane Ian

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by Billy Bob

Unfortunately it is VERY political. We spend a lot of time on Sanibel, the entire island is made up of very well to do residents and investors. There is no low end area on the island. Ultra rich.
Theses people are inconvenienced by what happened , the same has happened before . But financially they are just fine.
Prioritizing that bridge before all the truely damaged lower income people on the mainland even have a tent to live in have been handled is a stunt we have seen in Florida to often in the past few years.

I would respectfully disagree that anything is being handled in a manner that relates to net worth.

In the last 10 days I have been out every day in the area from Naples to Cape Coral. The sheer number of support vehicles for utilities, housing, clean up, and financial aid is astounding. They are working in every area without regard to the income level of the victims.

Without the bridge, essential services like food, water, and medical aid were unavailable to anyone stranded on Sanibel. It was important to get that reconstruction started.

[Billy Bob]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

I would respectfully disagree that anything is being handled in a manner that relates to net worth.

In the last 10 days I have been out every day in the area from Naples to Cape Coral. The sheer number of support vehicles for utilities, housing, clean up, and financial aid is astounding. They are working in every area without regard to the income level of the victims.

Without the bridge, essential services like food, water, and medical aid were unavailable to anyone stranded on Sanibel. It was important to get that reconstruction started.

Fun facts , this is the third bridge destroyed by a hurricane in this location in recent memory. The current one is less then ten years old , many of the restaurants and businesses are now being rebuilt for the third time. Our favorite, south seas resort, seems to be closed more then open in the last 20 years.
But we keep pounding government money into rebuilding barrier islands and selling the residents flood insurance. Perhaps we need to slow this down and stop spending billions on shifting sand

[searay]

I always find it interesting when people mention politics during a disaster. Rebuilding the bridge to Sanibel will support many that don't have the means to live on Sanibel. Take a minute and think about who can afford to rebuild and hire people who need to earn a living. It isn't the underprivileged that support the economy.

The millionaires are the economy. The rest of us go along for the ride, pick up the scraps and support our families.

Florida is working in a lot of directions to help everyone. I do agree
that we shouldn't be subsidizing a rebuild on a barrier island. If you can afford to be there then build it back on your own so when it happens again it is on them not us.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by searay

The millionaires are the economy. The rest of us go along for the ride, pick up the scraps and support our families.

Florida is working in a lot of directions to help everyone. I do agree
that we shouldn't be subsidizing a rebuild on a barrier island. If you can afford to be there then build it back on your own so when it happens again it is on them not us.

You make a good point.

I would add that the "millionaires" who live or own property on Sanibel pay significantly higher insurance rates than people who live a few miles inland. Everyone who owns in Florida is subject to higher insurance rates because of the exposure to hurricanes and history of substantial claims in the state. On the west coast of Florida insurance rates are much lower when you get a few miles from the Gulf. Auto insurance rates in Florida are about double what NH rates are, again because of a higher claims history.

The government has put a lot of disaster relief money into this recovery. However speaking of the "millionaires" on Sanibel that was referenced, those people pay a lot more in taxes too.

It would be interesting to know how much is or was collected in annual property insurance premiums from all Sanibel property owners but I don't know how to find that information. It would also be interesting to know the amount of property and income taxes paid by the Sanibel residents but again, I don't think those numbers are readily available.

There are thousands of people who have come to Florida, working because of the hurricane. They have come from all over the country and I doubt many of them are millionaires.

The insurance adjuster that came to my house was from New Mexico and an engineer who was here yesterday is from Alabama. All of these people rent cars, stay at motels, and eat at local restaurants. This keeps the local economy moving and helps people at all income levels.

[TiltonBB]

If you like boats (and who doesn't) this is just sad to see. Some of these boats were people's homes.

This video is from downtown Ft Myers on the river.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr0VXTWon68