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Subscribe to RSSNew York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, gives a brief update on a horrific fire, in the Breezy Point section of New York City's, that charred "more than 80 homes."
Updated at 1:35 p.m.: NEW YORK -- At least 80 homes were destroyed in the New York City borough of Queens in a six-alarm fire that raged overnight and into the daylight amid neck-deep floodwaters.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said firefighters contained the blaze at Breezy Point, Queens, by 11 a.m. on Tuesday, a full 12 hours after it was reported to the New York City Fire Department.
AP
Damage is seen Tuesday after a fire in Breezy Point, Queens.
The fire erupted at the peak of the storm in a Zone A area, which the New York City Office of Emergency Management declared to be the highest risk of flooding from Superstorm Sandy’s surge.
FDNY spokesperson Michael Parrella told NBC News that nearly 200 firefighters were on the scene by 5 a.m. Tuesday, battling high winds that made the flames difficult to knock down.
“The winds were just devastating, blowing from one building to the next one,” Bloomberg said.
With floodwater from the storm filling the street, firefighters had to use a boat to make rescues, the Associated Press reported. Fire department officials said about 25 people were trapped in the upstairs unit of one apartment, and the two-story home next door was ablaze and setting fire to the apartment’s roof. Firefighters climbed an awning to rescue the trapped people and took them downstairs to a boat in the street.
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Reuters
Residents stand among homes in Breezy Point, Queens, Tuesday devastated by a fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
The six-alarm blaze ravaged through several blocks and destroyed more than 80 buildings, Parrella said, but there were pockets still smoldering Tuesday morning.
City officials said it appeared most of the area was evacuated prior to the fire, and no serious injuries were reported, NBCNewYork.com reported.
New York State Assembly member Phillip Goldfeder, who represents the district that includes Breezy Point, said the small coastal area, which contains about 3,500 homes, sustained “immeasurable damage” from the storm.
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast.
“In Breezy Point, whatever is not flooded is on fire,” Goldfeder told NBC News. "There are literally rows of older, bungalow-style houses, one on top of the other, and for a fire, this is the worst-case scenario. The strong winds were spreading and fanning the flames at the same time as the flooding.”
“No one could respond for a while, and when they did, they did not have anywhere near close to the resources they needed,” Goldfeder said, adding that three area volunteer fire departments were working alongside the FDNY through the night to contain the blaze.
One firefighter sustained minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital, Parrella said.
Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com
Frank Franklin Ii / AP
A fire that ravaged through the flooded Breezy Point neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens destroyed at least 80 homes.
Emergency crews began canvassing the area at dawn Tuesday to make sure no one was trapped in any of the gutted homes, NBCNewYork.com reported. Goldfeder said residents of the impacted areas were still trying to make their way out of the wreckage by Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re not in recovery mode yet,” Goldfeder said. “Some residents are still in harm’s way, some are in slightly better shape, but everybody’s in a really bad place right now.”
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, Parrella said.
The Breezy Point neighborhood, which sits on the western edge of the Rockaway peninsula, jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, was historically a summer get-away for many residents of New York. Now, Goldfeder said, about 80 percent of its residents live there year-round.
Reports of the fire came just hours before President Barack Obama signed a major disaster declaration for New York and Long Island in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction, enabling federal aid to assist with storm recovery efforts.
About 170 firefighters were called to the scene in Breezy Point, Queens, where at least 50 homes have caught fire. MSNBC's Chris Jansing reports.
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No water?
RealAmericansFirst, Harry-3430678, this isn't the politics section. You're each suspended for a day for violating #4 of the Code of Honor. Post on-topic.
2 deleted.
Red Shift banned, rereg of zipperthecat.
Good for you Tyler! What a deplorable character motivates human beings with massive negativity and finger pointing totally irrelevant to the news story of a tragedy. What is it about some of us so warped with buck-passing blame that we lose sight of ourselves, and how we can help folks positively... folks trying to survive! Whose lives are endangered.
Tyler... thank you for being on board, and reminding us that people are hurting and we need to be positive towards helping them and compassionate for them.
Politics is a dirty word for me in this massive catastrophe which is NO one's fault!
From those of us impacted by the loss of a huge section of homes during this summer's Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs and environs, we are watching, praying, and standing with you all in spirit and the belief that you will get through this. Please be safe and strong. Your lovely and unique community has been ravaged, but lives on within each and every one of you. Bless Breezy Point and the entire East Coast.
How the...
how do 50 homes burn down in a hurricane? what were they made out of? gasoline?
Buildings catch fire due to damage to electrical systems and damage to natural gas lines.
Wood framed homes and they are built cheek to jowl in that neighborhood. Most of them are so close you could almost spread your arms and touch the next house.
Ever have a campfire during a rainstorm? I have. You can get even a small fire hot enough that the water vaporizes before it gets anywhere near the fire.
It's a very old community made up primarily of retired firefighers and police officers. The houses were all summer homes only at one point, and starting in the 1960s they started to slowly be converted to year-round homes. The homes are on walkways, not roads, and since they are primarily double bedroom, kitchen bathroom and living room summer houses, the were packed together pretty tightly. I'd say little more than six feet between houses on each side of a walkway, and only a four foot walkway and maybe a few feet of porch between the houses on either side of the walkway. A fire would have gone through the older homes pretty quickly, as they are all probably over 50 years old.
streeter - I'm guessing you were one of the people going on and on about how it was just a little Cat 1 storm. Fire, floods, storm surge, tornadoes (although not in this case - it was too cold) can all do catastrophic damage as a result of a hurricane, sometimes from even tropical storms. There is no such thing as just as Cat. 1. Want to know why the media "overhyped" this storm? Because people were being rescued from their flooding homes well into the night, thinking that, despite all the "hype" it wasn't going to get that bad. It can, it does, and it did.
This was a hurricane, not an earthquake! Natural gas lines don't break due to high winds and water.
I'm more towards the "set the house on fire first"! It happened right after Obama signed a major disaster declaration for New York and Long Island in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction, enabling federal aid to assist with storm recovery efforts. These must be part of the 47% Mitt was talking about :)!
Gas lines do, however, break if the house gets pushed off its foundation by the rising sea. You people disgust me. You turn anything into a political soap box, reality be damned.
Mostly police and firefighters, damn moochers. Bet you there's even a teacher or two in the bunch. (sarcasm)
I am forced to pay for other peoples beach homes every few years because they have a "disaster"
I never get invited to stay for my vacation once the vacation home is rebuilt though. I suggest these
people buy insurance or move.
I have a fair proposition for them I promise not to beg for "disaster" aid when my snowcone melts in
Las Vegas in July if they stop trying to live where flooding is WHEN not IF and then claiming it was
a natural disaster to get money from other people.
@ OGRADIT (?) IF I have my house paid of or inherited LIKE YOU STATED " YOUR G-MA PASED THE HOUSE TO YOUR MOM".....believe me I would be a rich ....with my hard working money by now .But coming in this great land with suitcase and husband and two children NO cash in our pocket NOT A DIME OF GOV. HELP (PROUD OF IT ) I have to pay mortgage 'til I die .......Since I help my two children going thru college , cars,small weddings I have to pass on my depths ....How is that for a non rich sounds to you .I STILL BELIEVE THIS IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WHOLE WORLD and TANKFUL FOR ADOPTING me RESPECTFUL of those who leads it and making efforts to make the changes, no matter REPUBLICAN or DEMOCRAT .I bow and say THANK YOU MR PRESIDENT YOU DID THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY ......NEXT PLEASE !!!!!!! not bashing or profane their name .That is how I was brought up .
Gas lines rupture because of the specific gravity of natural gas. This is the same reason air bubbles float to the top of the water. In the case of trees falling, if the ground is saturated, the roots of the tree are no longer in solid ground thus making them susceptible to the wind. When you look at the buried gas line, don't think of it in twenty foot sections. Think of it as a half mile of air filled tube which will float up in the middle due to the natural gas inside. This floating puts stress on the line splices, and if they break gas is released which may ignite if an ignition source such as sparking electricity is near at hand. If underwater for some time so the ground is saturated, things such as coffins, gas tanks, and other items holding air might pop to the surface. This is more common if the underground tank or line is not made of a heavy material such as steel, but of a plastic like PVC, though half empty steel tanks will pop up as well. It's the mixing of this stuff, besides sewage and other materials which make flood waters a public health hazard, besides ordinary property damage.
Well, this is certainly one way to rebuild the neighborhood.. I wonder how much this will cost the taxpayers to rebuild the neighborhood...
I guess you think that those people who are now homeless should just tug their bootstraps a bit harder. Mitt will show them how to rebuild; just watch his house help clean the carpets... THAT is how a Job Creator fixes things!!!!
No amount of money is going to replace the community I grew up in. This isn't like those houses rich people build two feet from the surf. This was an epic storm that even flooded battery park, so it's not like Breezy was a huge danger zone for flooding. The Sugar Bowl was one of the closest buildings to the beach and it was still several hundred feet from the water. Most of the people in Breezy are retired FDNY and NYPD. It's not like you pay them enough to be rich, and loosing these houses is going to ruin most of those families. Instead of turning this into politics, why don't you people do the right thing and pray for the families and maybe give a few bucks to the Red Cross or something.
If these people were wealthy, then you could expect the government to pay for their homes, if they're poor, they're $#!+ out of luck. I remember after those California mud slides where dozens of multimillion dollar homes were destroyed, the government gave them money to rebuild. But the homes of the poor below in the valley? They got nothing from the government. We live in a country for the wealthy run by the wealthy.
Insurance will cover their losses if they have the right policy. It's doubtful the taxpayers will have to underwrite the rebuilding; most of these were old summer shacks handed down in the family, and will be rebuilt or not, depending on the wishes and/or resources of the owners.
Whatever it costs so be it. They are our neighbors friends and relatives and all Americans.
Pablito
How much should we put you down for? I think a good start would be 100K.
Can you write the check or are you just wanting me and our children to pay.
Put up or shut up.
Hey Todd - why don't you put a sock in it? A little cranky today? How much is the check you're going to write? At least, insurance will cover these losses for the homeowners. Loans and grants, such as those after Katrina, may become available.
How horrible! I can't even imagine what it would be like to find out your home, as well as 49 or your neighbors' homes were burned to the ground. Okay, so maybe they were expecting SOME damage from the hurricane but I can't imagine a fire was one of their concerns. Here's hoping it will be covered by insurance.
What a terrible turn of events! I'm sure the blowing winds have fanned and spread the fires. The firefighters and police must really have their hands full, too. And for the homeowners who have lost everything, I truly feel for them. I suppose the best we can hope for is that the fires extinguish quickly and no one is killed or injured. Best wishes to all involved. Please be safe and well.
(Note to all regarding flooding: Do NOT drive through high water. You can't see the roadway, you don't know if it has been washed away, or where the edges of the road are. It only takes a few inches of water to sweep your car away--with you in it! Please be careful.)
Cheetah: I seem to remember that Katrina was turned into a political story. Blaming a president for a hurricane?? Now that the NorthEast has gone through a CATEGORY ONE!!! hurricane maybe they will now understand how stupid it was to politicize a Cat4/5 Katrina years ago.
I just saw a report on TV where the reporter said "what could the firefighters do, the hydrants were underwater" I agree. What could ANYBODY do in New Orleans when a levee broke and an entire lake dumped into the city.
Everybody needs to stop POLITICIZING EVERY GOD DAMM THING that happens, especially natural disasters. They happen, every year, everywhere. Presidents, no matter how much you hate them do NOT cause hurricanes and help is not always available.
And I seriously doubt Romney wants to get rid of FEMA, I would bet he simply wants to make it work more efficiently.
My heart goes out to everyone who lost anything in his storm and good job to all the public officials that helped in this, and EVERY OTHER NATURAL DISASTER that has hit the USA.
It wasn't the hurricane Katrina event that created the political firestrom! It was the lack of response that caused the Bush administration so much grief. The inactivity for days after Katrina was inexcusable. If the same thing happens here then Obama will take the heat as well. We'll see.
oh but Romney does want to get rid of FEMA.. just ask the peopleof Massachusetts whos homes and businesses were wiped out during the flood just a couple of years ago.. they kept asking Romney where was the federal aid and he kept sitting on it.. he didn't want to help. So if you think he wants to help anyone but himself then go ahead an vote for him then you will see how much help you get in a disaster.
Comon sense - have you forgotten that the Mayor of New Orleans REFUSED to allow the Fed Gov to come in and help??? THAT"S WHY THERE WAS SO MUCH TRAGEDY!!! NOT BUSH"S FAULT !!!! And when the Mayor finally said OK - that's when the help arrived.
comon sense-3288309
Here's a tidbit of information for you. Until the local authorities, in other words, the GOVERNOR, ASKS for help, the federal authorities, as in the case of Katrina can't do anything.
Unless of course you feel that the federal government should immediately step in and basically federalize everything. Personally, I find that possibility truly terrifying.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Hurricane_Katrina
The timeline does not agree with your recollection of events.
That was only because the President had been given a warning about what could happen and chose to leave D.C. and go campaigninig instead. A day or two later, members of the administration were asked " Don't you people ever watch T.V. ?" and that was the first they knew about the flood. Not exactly hands on leadership there. Even Cinton did better with the floods in the Mississippi River Valley years before. And Bush the elder with hurricane Andrew? As bad as his son.
My family has lived in Breezy for over 40 years. It is a very tight knit community, especially for us old-timers (as the new rich vacation home owners call us). My mother is right now frantically trying to find out if all of our neighbors survived/got out in time, and if our house was destroyed. For those of you dancing on the ashes decrying FEMA or saying it was inevitable - take a good look in the mirror. You have become monsters. While you ponder that, I'm going to try to find out if the nice old lady down the walkway that held me as a baby is still alive.
Do you know what streets (AKA sidewalks) were hit?? I have family with a bungalow on Jamaica.
My mother is frantically trying to find out. We were on Irving. We don't know if we were flooded, burned, or both. I know that the Sugar Bowl is gone in addition to all the houses past it to the west on Oceanside Drive, and the Surf Club might be gone as well. My mother told me she heard someone say that the water was up to their chest at the Sugar Bowl, so I don't know that it looks good for anything south of Oceanside Avenue.
Good luck to you, your family and everyone else. I hope that everyone got out safely. I am very sorry for your property loss and as a fellow American citizen I hope that my tax dollars can help in any way.
smk555 Everything from Irving Walk to the Sugar Bowl and past is gone. That includes Jamaica. I'm sorry... The pictures are here - the first picture is looking at Irving.
Thanks, ogradyjd. Brings tears to my eyes. Best wishes to you and your family.
Buy insurance or move. Newsflash you live in a hurricane zone it isnt if its when. If you want to gamble do so with your own money
am I the only person from the South Louisiana area that kinda feels they got what was coming to them? After all the BS they spewed after Hurricane Katrina and the following year(s) storms... Kinda feels like karma to me...
Now don't get me wrong. I feel bad for them, I know the damage a hurricane can do having been born and raised in South Louisiana but.... just a twinge of me is like hmmmmp eat crow....
Now don't get me wrong. I feel bad for them, I know the damage a hurricane can do having been born and raised in South Louisiana but.... just a twinge of me is like hmmmmp eat crow....
Apparently you don't feel bad enough to not spew crap. What BS are you talking about, and why would a community like Breezy being razed have anything to do with Karma. Do you have any clue of what the philisophical concept of Karma actually is? I might have lost some friends there. How about you explain to me and the other families how loosing our homes and loved ones constitutes "Karma"?
Eating crow? Yes, you are the only one that doesn't realize that the "BS" after Hurricane Katrina is about FEMA doing such a horrible job at trying to help you.
seems to me that many of the New Yorkers contributed pleanty to those effected by Katrina. Many gave as much as they could to the Red Cross to help. So now you act like no one helped? You talk like an ungrateful brat.
Is it any wonder that America is falling apart with the amount of empathy we get from one another.
I act like we were told not to rebuild, I act like we were told we were stupid to live in an area where hurricanes pass, I act like I work for everything I have and FEMA did NOTHING for me personally
The world shunned the people outside of New Orleans. That we don't and shouldn't exist. Thats how I act.
I feel for the people affected by this storm, but nobody cared when we had Issaac over us for an entire week this summer! Nobody cared when we had Gustav a couple years back that nearly wiped out our parish!
So don't tell me I'm a brat. I'm just aware of the fact that it depends on who and where you are to get any kind of empathy.
Empathy starts with you... you sew what you reap. If you feel you were ignored that is sad. There was help available you just needed to look, ask, talk. Instead you sit there with your keyboard being angry and self rightous. You anger stems from the very thing I see on this board, the lack of humanity and empathy from others. I am sorry for you.
I'm not going to argue with someone who wasn't here to live it.
Help wasn't available for the last 2, at least not for the people who owned homes, had insurance, and held decent jobs. We were expected to wipe out our savings and tend to ourselves. The 'help' that was available was income based. It boiled down to if you had a job (2 income family here) you made too much money to get 'help'. I was told by FEMA to go get a loan from my bank if I didn't have the cash reserves to cover my damages or hurricane deducitble (which is 5% of the value of my home, think around $10,000.... don't really keep that kind of cash laying around)
So yes call me angry - I agree with you. I'm angry that the hardworking people who are trying to better themselves and this country get the shaft when they need help. And now I'm done with this topic
Buy insurance or move. Newsflash you live in a hurricane zone it isnt if its when. If you want to gamble do so with your own money.
I know disasters are bad, but on the other hand it is one of the biggest factors in economy stimulation, and to some extent controls the earths population. I heard an old Vet. say one time "there's nothing better to improve an economy than a good war" or storm for that matter. Like after Katrina, Louisiana became a boom town for jobs, from clean-up, construction, hospital care, new auto sales, it reaches far and wide in the economy. Of course loss of life is always bad. It's like mother nature has a pruning effect to promote new growth. Like they say you can't fool mother nature.
I surely hope that you do not mean your words. You may find someday that you are the one effected by some disaster and lose family, friends and a lifetime of memories. You may find that the very community you live with, the very country you live in and the people you expect to lend you a helping hand have turned thier backs to you in your moment of great need.
Our Country use to be based on neighbor helping neighbor. Now, we have people like you who flippantly say it is natures way and try to sound so self important.
I have been effected, you just don't know what you're talking about. Everything I said is fact not fallacy. You must of been living under a rock all your life. Living in Florida, I've lost friends and love ones to hurricanes, and I was right there to help anyone I could.
mshell,
No one deserves what happened. Katrina was the one time I was ashamed of my country, that we elected someone so incredibly inept-2X no less (no political statements here-these tragedies bond all victims and all who feel for victims). However, lots of nice people live in Broad Channel. I lived for 30 years in a Brooklyn area on Jamaica Bay and wished my parents had settled there or with one of the other waterfront areas, all of which had a very strong sense of community and neighborliness. I loved to bike down to all the lovely beaches right there in Queens. Going to Broad Channel was like being home-EVERYONE was super-nice in Breezy Point...if I so much as stopped to drink out of my water bottle, all kind of people would come up to me, even older ladies would ask me to come up on the stoop for iced tea and I ended up there for hours, forget about what happened if I had a flat (I STILL don't know how to do it myself), invited to stay for bbqs and someone would drive me home or asked to come back and I just could never say no because they were so wonderful...The bbqs were packed-anyone who even walked by was pulled in..everyone chipped in helping neighbors. Another area that gets hit with water issues is Breezy Point-same thing with a Hamptons-quality beach and views,
Yes, I am tall/blond/blue and don't look like a bad person but still, it was all about friendliness and being good "hosts" to whoever came there.
That's the way breezy has been forever. One of the few places I know where walking down the walkways, poeple would look you in the eyes and smile and say hi. And my family would have been one of those to invite you onto the porch for a card game or some beer and food. I can't believe it might all be gone.
It may be a difficult road, but rebuild. Recreate that community. Don't let it pass on as so many other communities across the county. I know that I make it sound simple and that the going will be hard. I hope you find all your neighbors and that they are alive and well. But push on, and rebuild, for the future of your kids and grandkids.
My kids are now asking me what they should have in their homes "just in case".
I guess all the "preppers" don't look so stupid after all.
NEVER RELY ON GOVERNMENT OR SOCIETY TO CARE FOR YOU!
Be prepared to care for yourself!
Pure Darwinism!
I'll bet the "preppers" will be thrilled when the state of American society devolves to the point where life would be as described by Thomas Hobbes in his book Leviathan:
"In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, not culture of the earth, no navigation, nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
All the "preppers" are welcome to live in such a Hell. Myself, I think I may just check out of this roach motel when that time comes. I will laugh at the "survivors" from afar, as they shoot, stab, and bomb each other to oblivion.
Theres a shocker....wonder how many had flood insurance as opposed to fire insurance....
Every one is flood zone A, should have flood insurance!
"Should" is the key word.......
nazarite banned, relentless political derails on Sandy articles.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this natural disaster. My middle finger goes out to those that have to politicise everything.
I wonder how we could make our infrastructure safer so this doesn't happen every storm. It happened here during hurricane IKE and we don't really have a lot of gas here. I wonder if it is the gas lines or the electricity causing it? I don't like having gas because it is kind of dangerous, so I always have all electric.
NYC fire engines are not equipped with pontoons.
This is my hometown, and for all of you thinking that it is a rich neighborhood, let me tell you something, it isn't. Most of these homes are inherited from Parents, Grandparents, and Great-Grandparents. These houses are bungalow homes or small two family homes, the exception are large houses. The rest of the area are all homes built in the 20's and 30's, and to the 60's. They area go hit hard, I watched people's homes burn down, and saw my friends and families home damaged. Stop making everything so damn political, right now people are suffering and bringing politics in, is not right. Focus on helping those who need it.
Has anyone ever thought they would love to start all over and escape their current situation? To do that properly you must give up all you currently have to be free of burden. At least these folks can now have a chance they would have never had the nerve to try otherwise. Good luck ! .. and don't live in a place named Breezy.
All you haters, I have an idea to calm you down. Let's make a law that no one is alowed to build a house within 1000 feet of the ocean. That would help,would'nt it? Of course we will also have to say no farms or houses or cities within the flood plain of all our rivers,no houses within 500 miles of any faults in the earth(goodbye San Francisco, LA,Memphis and a few others,no building in an area that is likely to be hit by a tornado.
BILL, the ocean thing is a great idea. I salute you ! I only hope you are serious because I am.
"fools rush in where lovers fear to tread".
I always say if people want an Ocean view then buy a damn boat.
You've just eliminated 99.999999999999% of the buildable space in this country. The flood plain for the Mississippi alone covers about 1/3 of the country. And don;t even think about the faults in the country.
Your numbers are BS.
In any case that is what insurance is for and if they wont insure it there is a good reason, live some where they will insure.
I know children you want your cake and eat it too.
I suppose you have found a way though, whine unit the govt gives you a tit.
Problem is they will run out of tits for babies someday, then maybe you will grow up.
OK....
How about this folks:
STOP politicising everything. NO president is responsible for a hurricane. NO president is responsible for immediately stepping in and federalizing any given situation. The governors of the respective states need to request the assistance of the federal government. Then and only then can anyone lambaste a president for an action or lack thereof.
Better yet.... Stop ALL the bickering and go to the web sites of the Salvation Army (my preferred) or the Red Cross and make a donation. The PEOPLE, your fellow citizens need the help. The East Coast from the Mid-Atlantic to the New England states, the Mid-West and even into Canada have been affected by this storm, and CONTINUE to be affected by Sandy and her aftermath.
For ONCE, pull together and help. They need everything you can give.
saying no government or president is responsible for disasters is a lie.. the Pharaoh of Egypt was directly responsible for the plagues of Egypt sent by God.. if the Pharaoh did what God wanted.. God would have not destroyed them... You idiot Americans dont deserve this country and most of you should be sent to third world slums.
Do you really want all of those ugly Americans crowding into your neighborhood?
Living here on the NC coast tropical storms/hurricanes are almost an annual occurance. Their not a lot of fun, but the media definetly plays it up BIG TIME!! Having watched the HUGE influx of yellow lisence plates (and the obnoxious mouths to go with them) for the last ten yrs. or so, we are not too fond of the yankee infiltration that has occured here. That being said, "YOU'SE GUYS" have fu@&'in fun with that wata' up there!! Couldnt have happened in a betta place!! okay Im gonna "get the f@#k outta heeea!! Enjoy yankees, heee!!
I'm from the Gulf coast. I wasn't worried about a little cat1 storm. I forgot how vulnerable that area could be.
We have problems with storms often enough that our buildings can mostly stand up to the little ones.
To lose homes that have been around that long will be very hard. They will not be allowed to build them back the way they were (and they shouldn't). It sounds almost like a way of life may be gone. The personal losses will be bad. I'd worry about what is to replace the burned out area. Apartments, a mall, something worse?
I've seen enough transformers blow to understand how easily the area could have caught on fire and the frustration at being able to do nothing. I pray no one died. We understand the loss of possessions but it's not so bad. Storms can take old photos, books, and other memorabilia but not memories.
From an insurance standpoint, the fire might be a blessing in disguise. It may be better to deal a house destroyed completely by fire than one badly flooded, but intact.
But if you remember from Katrina, the insurance companies start playing "Chicken-Egg" and say the flood caused the fire, so they don't have to pay, since they don't have flood insurance. Just leave it up to State Farm, Allstate and Farm Bureau's lawyers to figure a way out of paying.
I feel sorry for those made homeless by this fire and/or flooding occurring in Sandy. It proves that living in an area susceptable to the elements carries a high degree of danger when Nature strikes. Hopefully, the victims will receive help of some kind to rebuild their lives.
This is a disaster. Instead of people coming here and praying for the safety of others or lending their sympathy people come here to squabble, to talk about how the people affected by this disaster are cons burning down their houses, are somehow deserving ( beach house blah blah! ). SHAME ON YOU! I am thankful there was not more loss of life. And my sympathies and prayers go out to those who have lost property and possessions. God bless you all. I know you will help each other ( as will many GOOD people rather than some of the Nimrods here ) and you will rebuild. You will do us all proud.
A survivor of the Northridge quake.
Well insurance covers fires, not floods unless of course the owner PURCHASED flood insurance so therefore it is logical to think someone burnt their place down as they weren't properly insured. Is that what happened? Who knows and quite honestly who cares, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE!!!
But not very probable that someone is going to torch the place keeping them warm and dry in the middle of the storm. We did see some suspicious fires around NO but that was weeks after Katrina once people were allowed to come back in on day trips.
The sheriff called them friction fires....the mortgage would get torubbing up against the insurance policy and all that heat made the place go up in flames.
So much for Freedom of Speech on the Vine!