robklurfield
eclipse
Paul, thank you. For my wife and I, we're just simply awfully lucky. It's not our primary residence. We have been renting it out to cover our property taxes since the kids left home. Ours is still standing and with a bit of work can be made habitable again (we mostly will need water-damaged systems -- electric, HVAC, hot water, etc. replaced).
At one time, this was almost exclusively a summer community of mostly modest bungalows. As the land got to be more valuable, people kept adding on rooms and floors to these houses, in many cases doing a slipshod job because the houses weren't intended for year-round use and because inspections tended by lax (or by-passed entirely). The older houses were often rather flimsy (the ones that landed in the street, for example). In the past 20 years, the number of year-round residents has grown considerably and, I'm afraid, some of these folks, most of them entering or well into their senior years, are temporarily homeless. But, there are also a good number of wealth snowbirds who fly south as soon as Thanksgiving's leftovers are finished. (Not us.)
Some of the younger or more well-to-do folks were in the habit of tearing down the modest bungalows and putting up big fancy shingle-style beach palaces. Those houses were built to withstand rough weather and many of them did surprisingly well.
Now, for us, we're not among the wealthy, so what we could afford was a house off the beach -- about five houses in -- and I think that saved us. We were on slightly higher ground and protected by a bigger house on the ocean side (it too did pretty well).
Anyway, your prayers are always appreciated beyond what words can express. I hope you'll direct some more of that positive energy to some of the many folks who are so much less fortunate than us. I'm especially worried for people on Staten Island and Queens. Many of them didn't have much before the storm and now they've got less or nothing. Very sad and worrisome as the weather gets colder.
At one time, this was almost exclusively a summer community of mostly modest bungalows. As the land got to be more valuable, people kept adding on rooms and floors to these houses, in many cases doing a slipshod job because the houses weren't intended for year-round use and because inspections tended by lax (or by-passed entirely). The older houses were often rather flimsy (the ones that landed in the street, for example). In the past 20 years, the number of year-round residents has grown considerably and, I'm afraid, some of these folks, most of them entering or well into their senior years, are temporarily homeless. But, there are also a good number of wealth snowbirds who fly south as soon as Thanksgiving's leftovers are finished. (Not us.)
Some of the younger or more well-to-do folks were in the habit of tearing down the modest bungalows and putting up big fancy shingle-style beach palaces. Those houses were built to withstand rough weather and many of them did surprisingly well.
Now, for us, we're not among the wealthy, so what we could afford was a house off the beach -- about five houses in -- and I think that saved us. We were on slightly higher ground and protected by a bigger house on the ocean side (it too did pretty well).
Anyway, your prayers are always appreciated beyond what words can express. I hope you'll direct some more of that positive energy to some of the many folks who are so much less fortunate than us. I'm especially worried for people on Staten Island and Queens. Many of them didn't have much before the storm and now they've got less or nothing. Very sad and worrisome as the weather gets colder.
robklurfield
eclipse
This house is in the middle of the road...
robklurfield
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robklurfield
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robklurfield
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robklurfield
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robklurfield
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Our friends' basement/garage. The pressure coming up from beneath the concrete slab forced to buckle. They're planning to raise their house on new pilings.
robklurfield
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The empty space to the right of the frame had a house on it before the storm...
robklurfield
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Remembrance of things past ... the ferris wheel fell into the sea.
gb hill
Veteran
This is awful Rob. Many of these dear people have lost it all. They are saying that these type of storms are to become more frequent. I always wonder how insurance companies can begin to cover the cost of even those that are covered. This is going to take a lot of prayer & people pulling together. Thanks for sharing these photo's.
robklurfield
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More sights from happier times at the shore.
when the police had less weighty things on their minds...
when the police had less weighty things on their minds...
sepiareverb
genius and moron
I often went to Ocean Beach as a kid, likely all those beachside cabins are gone now. Flood Insurance has been quite contentious here in Vermont since Irene, with companies using exceptions to get out of paying. Perhaps there will be some changes to the industry now that everyone needs to be paying them for health insurance.
robklurfield
eclipse
Bob, we couldn't drive to see OB on the ocean side, but the damage on the bay side seemed to be mostly flooding, rot, mold, etc. Piles and piles of discarded furniture. Very depressing. Our first stay as a family was almost 25 years ago in a little rented cabin in OB with two toddlers. Guessing you're right about their condition. Camp Osborn, about three miles up Rte 35 was burned to the ground -- 30+ of the cabins destroyed when a gas leak ignited.
robklurfield
eclipse
bigeye
Well-known
Great documentation, Rob. It's good that you're taking them. It's a perfect mess to a nice little community. Very sorry to see it.
We've been through this. Values will come back with time (~5 years); watch for development pressures soon. Developers and speculators will get in cheap now and later start to press the zoning board under the shroud of the communities' "duress." Politicians will crumble and really bad development can occur with awful results.
-Charlie
We've been through this. Values will come back with time (~5 years); watch for development pressures soon. Developers and speculators will get in cheap now and later start to press the zoning board under the shroud of the communities' "duress." Politicians will crumble and really bad development can occur with awful results.
-Charlie
zauhar
Veteran
Rob, those photos are staggering (and well-done). We are not getting much of this from the media, they seem to have already found new shiny objects to inspect, like some ill-behaved generals.
Stunning that here in Philly we experienced modest damage, with the center of the storm passing right over us.
I am so glad your place survived intact, and so sorry for your neighbors. I saw on your facebook post that you paid $30,000 in flood insurance premiums over the years - strange how the pundits make it sound like flood insurance is some sort of charity program!
Randy
Stunning that here in Philly we experienced modest damage, with the center of the storm passing right over us.
I am so glad your place survived intact, and so sorry for your neighbors. I saw on your facebook post that you paid $30,000 in flood insurance premiums over the years - strange how the pundits make it sound like flood insurance is some sort of charity program!
Randy
sepiareverb
genius and moron
It's really hard to comprehend the scale of this from afar- friends in Manhattan had feet of water in their first floor office on 7th between C&D, just saw a picture of their floor in piles in the back yard. The Lower East Side is pretty far from Ocean Beach...
robklurfield
eclipse
Five feet of water in our basement. We used the basement to store old furniture. No great loss. But, it also house all of our systems -- furnace, hot water heater, etc -- and they are a total loss.
Staggering. While I was visiting on Sunday, it felt surreal. Now, a couple of days later, I keep wondering if I really saw that. Were there really houses, houses I'd been in visiting friends and neighbors, sitting in the middle of the street?
Staggering. While I was visiting on Sunday, it felt surreal. Now, a couple of days later, I keep wondering if I really saw that. Were there really houses, houses I'd been in visiting friends and neighbors, sitting in the middle of the street?
robklurfield
eclipse
Randy, the maximum amount covered by federal flood insurance is $250K per occurrence and not everything is covered. The pundits and reporters leave out important facts. These demolished houses will not be rebuilt, if they are rebuilt at all (and one can legitimately question if the ones in harms way should be) only with a small portion of federal money if any. The press & media would lead one to believe that FEMA simply comes in and makes everyone whole. Simply not the case. Nor, probably should it be. But it does make sense for the premiums to be high.
zauhar
Veteran
Rob, I agree that by logic the premiums are high, but you did PAY them, and now you deserve what reimbursement is available. Hopefully the 250K (if you are truly allowed that) will be adequate for your damages.
In point of fact, 250K doesn't go far toward a new shore home, so your neighbors with horrific damage are really stuck. Can they take the 250K, walk away, and invest in another residence, or do they have to apply the money where they are?
Randy