UPDATED: 10/9/22
Disasters whether natural or man made are occurring more and more frequently and with greater intensity. Fires, Explosions, Heavy Rains, Droughts, Super Storms, Tornados, Hurricanes, Dust Storms, Hail Storms, Tsunamis, Earthquakes, MudSlides, Sink Holes, etc… it seems like we are seeing some kind of disaster on a daily basis. Add to these the wars, riots, political coups and terror attacks and it is just overwhelming.
In the midst of all of this madness, and often from the affects of them, people are losing their homes, their livelihoods, and their possessions, including their vehicles, both personal and commercial. This believe it or not, is part of the plan of the elite. They want us out of our homes and our cars and completely dependent on them.
Think about all the Fires we have seen raging over the last 10 years or more. Think about all the flooding we have witnessed across the middle of our Nation. Think about the droughts and sand storms, the hail storms. snow and ice storms. Think about all the crazy Hurricanes and Tornadoes. Even if the loss of lives has not been too high, think about how many homes, businesses, farms and vehicles that have been destroyed.
Of course the people hit hardest by all of this are the poor, the sick and the handicapped. They don’t have the means to evacuate before the disaster, they are forced to ride out the storm. If they survive they have no means to get to a safe and dry place to stay until everything dries out. They have no means to replace what is lost whether that is just furnishings or it is their entire home. They can’t afford the kind of insurance coverage that would provide assistance so if their car or home is destroyed or lost, they have nothing.
I tried to find good statistics on how many vehicles have been lost, but they don’t really want us to know. There is very limited information.
You might see a lot of those cars back on the road, but they won’t last long. The effects of what they went through will wreak havoc with them and they will be out of commission soon. Hopefully they will not take anyone out with them when they die.
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Residents across the country are still mopping up from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which hit the Gulf Coast before sweeping up into the Northeast, leaving parts of New York City and its suburbs under water this past week.
Dozens were killed, many after being trapped in their cars by flood waters. News and social media from across the New York-New Jersey region show cars that were abandoned along major highways as well as neighborhood streets.
With prices for used cars at record levels, the temptation to resell flood-damaged cars could prove more tempting than ever this year.
The flooding from Ida caps a summer season that has left many parts of the country waterlogged. That, in turn, has created major headaches for car owners — and car buyers. Thousands of vehicles have been seriously damaged or completely ruined. But many owners soon could find that, despite carrying insurance, they are out of luck when it comes to recouping their losses.
In the months to come, meanwhile, some of those flood-damaged vehicles may show back up on the used vehicle market through an appropriately named scam known as “title washing.” Someone buying one of those vehicles could be in for a number of headaches.
When a vehicle is submerged, it is subject to developing all sorts of issues, starting with mold. Body panels and other components can rust. Water can damage engines. And then there are all the electronic circuits that control everything from power windows to a car’s safety and infotainment systems. They can suffer intermittent or complete failures.
“A car that’s been in a flood, with the engine emerged for any length of time, will never be the same,” said Carl Sullivan, a veteran inspector for California-based AiM Mobile Inspections.
Drying out a car as quickly as possible, especially if it’s been submerged in salt water, is critical, Sullivan and other experts stress. They also warn drivers not to immediately try to start up a vehicle after a flood, especially one where water might have gotten into the engine. That could lead to a catastrophic failure known as hydrolock. Instead, find a repair shop trained in dealing with water damage and have the vehicle towed in.
Motorists should take detailed pictures that can help support an insurance claim. Unfortunately, many owners discover too late that their coverage doesn’t include flooding.
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Expert tips on how to be compensated for your flood damaged car after a hurricane
Floods are the most common natural disasters in the U.S. In many areas—including the Midwest, Northeast, and Mississippi River Valley—floods are becoming more frequent, and coastal flooding has doubled in recent decades. Along with securing proper insurance for your home, it’s important to protect your vehicle before the next hurricane happens. Does car insurance cover flood damage? What should you do if your car gets flooded, and how do you make sure you get a fair settlement for your car flood insurance claim? We talked with Penny Gusner, consumer analyst for Insurance.com and Insure.com, for the lowdown on car flood insurance. Here’s what you need to know.
Does Car Insurance Cover Flood Damage?
Yes, but you will need comprehensive auto coverage if you want your insurance company to pay you for damage to your flooded vehicle. According to Insure.com, the average rate for comprehensive coverage is $189 per year, which you’ll pay in addition to collision, which averages $523.
Does car insurance cover hurricane damage? Yes, again as long as you have comprehensive coverage on your policy.
When you lease or finance a vehicle, you’re required to have comprehensive insurance. But even if your situation doesn’t mandate it, it’s probably a good idea. “If your car is newer than 10 years old, I would always say keep it,” Gusner said. “I say keep comprehensive on it until your car is so old that the cost of the coverage is more than your car’s worth.“
If you don’t have comprehensive coverage and your car gets flooded, you’re likely out of luck. Home insurance doesn’t cover flood damage, and even if you have a flood insurance policy tacked on, it will only cover damage to personal belongings in your car. There is one recourse, though. In the event of a natural disaster, you may be eligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the form of a low-cost loan.
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Consider Other Forms Of Coverage, Too
Other forms of coverage that may help you in the event of a flood include towing insurance, which is usually pretty inexpensive to add to your policy. “If your car’s in a flooded area and you’re told to get it to higher ground, some insurers will pay that themselves,” Gusner said. “Other ones will make you pay unless you have the towing coverage on your car.”
Rental reimbursement insurance may also be helpful; it will pay for a rental car that you can drive after your car has been flooded. If you have a second car, however, you may choose to skip it.
If you have full coverage on your car AND car rental insurance you should be able to get a rental car almost immediately after the flood, as long as rental cars are available. This could prove to be very valuable to you at a time when you are dealing with so many other problems. You can at least get a vehicle to take you where you can find help or a dry place to sleep.
Take Pictures—They’ll Help With Your Car Flood Insurance Claim
To make sure you get a fair payout from the insurance company, you’ll need to thoroughly document what has happened to your car. That means taking pictures and video from all angles of the car so the insurance company can see how high the water has reached. “Knowing the highest level of water exposure to the car can make a difference on if they’ve got to total it or not,” Gusner said. “Any kind of pictures you can take of how the car is, at probably its worst moment, if possible.” The National Auto Dealers Association recommends taking steps to dry the vehicle as much as possible and removing moisture from the car if the interior is wet.
Submit Your Car Flood Insurance Claim Early
Once you’ve taken pictures and video, call the insurance company quickly. If a big hurricane has occurred, you can bet a lot of other people are submitting claims, too.
Insurance companies are now using mobile response units to expedite the claims process, but there is still a limited number of insurance adjusters. “The sooner you get your claim in, the sooner you’re going to get your settlement,” Gusner advised. It’s important to take notes throughout the claims process, writing down the names of the people you talk to, the time and date, and the details of the discussion.
Check For Hidden Damage
When it’s time for your car to go to the shop, determine whether or not there is damage that can’t be seen with the naked eye. “Have good communication with the body shops and mechanic, so you can find out how thorough they’re inspecting it, how much damage there is. Make sure you’re asking.” This step is key, because it could make a difference on whether the car will be repaired or declared a total loss.
What If Your Flood Damaged Car Is A Total Loss?
It’s likely your insurance company will declare your vehicle a total loss. This happens if the car is so damaged that it cannot be safely repaired, or if the repairs would cost more than the car is worth. Or if the cost of repairs is too high according to state regulations or the insurer’s guidelines for a total loss. In some states, a certain damage threshold must be exceeded for the car to be declared totaled. In Michigan, for example, the repair costs have to be greater than 75 percent of the car’s value. It’s 80 percent in Florida, and 100 percent in Texas. Insurance companies may have their own guidelines as long as it’s a lower threshold than the state. When the company declares your vehicle a total loss, you will get a payout equivalent to the value of the vehicle the moment before the loss occurred (minus your deductible).
What If It’s Not Totaled?
In this case, you’re entitled to getting your car repaired to the same condition it was before the incident. Of course, many people have health and safety concerns about keeping a car that has been in a flood. And when you sell it, it’s not going to be worth as much if it hadn’t been flooded.
In this situation, you may want to look into making a diminished value claim. This will allow you to recover the difference between the car’s pre-accident value and its new value after repairs. Some states allow this, others don’t. And don’t expect it to be an easy process.
Some insurers will use a formula the state has prepared to determine the diminished value.
“Otherwise you might have to do some legwork yourself,” Gusner said, advising people to research their car’s value on consumer sites. “Look at the value of your car and then call dealerships and say, ‘Hey this car, what would it be worth in pristine condition? OK, what would it be worth now that I have water damage?’ You figure out sort of what you expect to get for your diminished value.” There are also companies that can help you write a report and recover the money, Gusner points out.
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Will Your Insurance Rates Go Up?
Rates usually don’t increase because of a comprehensive claim. Of course, there are exceptions. “Let’s say this is your third claim in two years, then your rates might go up due to the amount of claims you had, but not because of the type of claim,” Gusner said.
But Above All Else, Stay Safe During A Flood
The most important thing you can do in a flood is stay safe! If you have a chance to move your car out of harm’s way before flood damage occurs then you should try as long as conditions are safe to do so. If it’s already flooded, don’t try and move it. You might cause more damage and put yourself in unnecessary danger. Vehicles can be replaced after a flood. Your life cannot.
Source: CarInsurance.com (1, 2), Insure.com, NRDC, ValuePenguin
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Over 50 large fires are burning in 10 states across the western US. Here’s how they stack in history.
Fifty-two large fires are currently burning 748,987 acres in the western United States, with many showing very little sign of containment.
The number of fires that have burned nationally by this time of year is the largest in a decade, with over 33,000 fires scorching upwards of 1.9 million acres by July 12, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The fires have forced evacuations in numerous areas amid a deadly heat wave and an intense drought. Some burned homes and other structures have been observed but total losses were still being tallied.
“Based on last year, we’re off to a really bad start. And last year was a record year,” said Glen MacDonald, geography professor at UCLA.
The potential of bad wildfires “will expand as we move through the summer, even greater in the northern tier up through Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho” and California, he said.
Here’s a roundup of the biggest fires now, and how they stack up in history:
California wildfires outpacing 2020’s historic season
More than a dozen fires are burning in parts of the state, ranging from a couple of acres to nearly 90,000.
The largest this year in the state, the Beckwourth Complex covered 89,748 acres on Northern California’s border with Nevada. Plumas National Forest officials said firefighters successfully contained almost a quarter of the blaze but still expected some extreme fire activity. Evacuation orders were in effect for more than 3,000 residents.
The number of wildfires in the Golden State is so far is outpacing averages and even last year’s historic fire season. Between Jan. 1 and July 4, there were 4,599 fires that scorched 114.8 square miles in California. During the same timeframe last year, there were 3,847 fires that blackened 48.6 square miles.
California’s wildfires off to ‘a daunting start’: currently outpacing historic 2020 season
Oregon and their mega fires
Oregon’s first mega fire of the 2021 fire season is now mapped at 153,535 acres. The Bootleg Fire, burning on the state’s border with California, is threatening approximately 1,200 structures and is 0% contained.
12 other fires are burning throughout the state, including the Grandview Fire at 4,000 acres and the Jack Fire at 10,937. All of these fires pale in comparison to the largest fire in state history, the Silverton Fire of 1865 at over 900,000 acres.
But Oregon is no stranger to so-called mega fires — fires which burn more than 100,000 acres. The average acreage burned in Oregon fires since 2012 is about 650,000, and five mega fires sparked in the state last year.
In Washington, expert warns of possible ‘catastrophic’ events
In Washington, the Batterman Road Fire has consumed more than 14,000 acres and 55,000 acres have been burned by the Asotin Complex Fire.
Washington is also no stranger to wildfires, with more than 800,000 acres burned in 2020. Experts say this year may be significantly worse.
“It doesn’t take much for us to have a major catastrophic event,” Department of Natural Resources Fuels Analyst Vaugn Cork told KREM-TV. “This could be catastrophic.”
To date in 2021, there have been 630 wildfires, nearly double the ten-year average in the state, according to DNR statistics.
High temperatures and wildfires in Montana
At least 10 major wildland fires continued to burn across Montana Monday, following weeks of daytime highs in the 90s and little to no rain.
Despite the extreme number, 2017 is still to date the No. 1 in terms of acres burned, and probably the largest in more than 100 years. That’s the most since 1910, when the Great Fire burned an estimated 3 million acres in northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana.
But the current wildfire preparedness level in state is the highest on record this early in the season, according to CBS-6.
‘Worst is yet to come’: Disastrous future ahead for millions worldwide due to climate change, report warns
More wildfires expected in Idaho
In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little declared a wildfire emergency Friday and mobilized the state’s National Guard to help fight fires sparked after lightning storms swept across the drought-stricken region.
Two major wildfires are burning across the area where Idaho, Oregon and Washington meet, including the Dry Gulch Fire at 55,000 acres and the Snake River Complex at 54,000.
Jared Jablonski, a Bureau of Land Management spokesperson for the Boise district, told KREM-TV that he wouldn’t be surprised to see more fires in 2021, up from the 944 fires last year.
What’s behind Arizona’s wildfires?
Several fires are ravaging their way across Arizona because of an unusually dry season. At least two have died in the state so far.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and other fire officials warned in mid-March about the likelihood of severe 2021 wildfires, saying that this season was expected to be similar to last year’s — one of Arizona’s worst wildfire seasons in a decade due to an ongoing drought, lack of rain and vegetation overgrowth.
Wildfires in British Columbia, too
Across the Canadian province, firefighters are battling a historic 300,000 blazes, sparked in large part by the excessive heat there that has claimed the lives of over 700 people, according to CBC.
Contributing: Christal Hayes, USA TODAY; David Murray and Karl Puckett, Great Falls Tribune; Rachel S. Hunt, Arizona Republic; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fire season in the western United States outpacing historic totals
FEMA has historically borrowed from the Treasury Department to pay claims from disasters. As of August 2020, FEMA’s debt has ballooned to $20.5 billion despite Congress erasing a $16 billion debt from Hurricane Katrina in October 2017 to pay for more hurricanes including Harvey, Irma and Maria. According to the US Government of Accountability Office, the financial status of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program could potentially worsen unless changes are made.
Elliott said federal money is ultimately for rebuilding communities, but many residents – particularly people of color – still question where the money is going: “So the question is rebuilding for whom and to what end,” he added, noting the social disparities that tend to come out of the long recover process. source
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FEMA Might Help with Storm-Related Vehicle Damage
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Insurance industry estimates 200,000 cars may have been damaged by flooding. The disastrous Louisiana floods not only took lives and destroyed homes and businesses, they also damaged an estimated 100,000 insured cars and trucks, many of which may find their way into the used-car market. It gets worse. The National Insurance Crime Bureau says the total number of damaged cars may be twice that high, since owners often drop coverage on aging vehicles. While cars are often damaged beyond repair by flooding, that doesn’t stop unscrupulous resellers from trying to pass them off as cream puffs. Carfax estimates that as many as half of flood-damaged cars eventually return to the marketplace.
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NICB data shows
more than 422,000 vehicles were reported damaged due to Hurricane Harvey
and more than 215,000 from Hurricane Irma in 2017. A quarter-million vehicles were damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and roughly 300,000 from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And those numbers just include claims made to insurance companies. Source
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Hurricane Harvey Destroys Up to a Million Cars in Driving-Dependent …
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Mark H. Bickel, Fort Myers News-Press
1 min read
Upside down cars. Sideways cars. Pricey paint-scratched sports cars parked in Naples
Cars with broken glass and cars rendered useless because they were submerged in storm surge water that Ian brought with it.
Hurricane Ian images: 19 photos of the boat carnage in Southwest Florida
It’s difficult to tell if there were more cars and trucks or boats tossed around by the Category 4 storm that lashed Southwest Florida on Sept. 28.
Doesn’t matter. Carnage is carnage. And there is plenty of that right now from Fort Myers Beach to Captiva.
Our photographers are spread out in communities throughout Southwest Florida.
Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach
Downtown Fort Myers
Bonita Beach
Naples
Pine Island
These are just a few of the damaged car and truck photos they have captured.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian aftermath: Car, truck carnage litters SW FL landscape
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There’s a ton of EVs disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start. That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before. At least on this kind of scale. #HurricaneIan pic.twitter.com/WsErgA6evO
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) October 6, 2022
Fisker Lost $30 Million Worth Of Cars In Hurricane Sandy
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Certificate of Destruction for Flooded Cars
When a motor vehicle is determined to be a total loss because of water damage, Louisiana law states that the insurance company acquiring ownership of the vehicle shall send the title certificate and an application for a Certificate of Destruction to the Office of Motor Vehicles within 30 days of settling the claim.
For details, please see the Office of Motor Vehicles Water Damaged Vehicle Policy and the Certificate of Destruction Policy, which outlines the required documentation and applicable fees. Please click here for the Vehicle Application Form.
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Flooded-out cars from Texas and Florida may be headed to Nebraska …
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Laura Layden
Thousands of rental cars are on the move this week near Southwest Florida International Airport.
There hasn’t been a sudden resurgence in airport travel or tourism, which has been decimated by COVID-19.
Most of the vehicles — damaged or destroyed by a fire near the airport more than a month ago — are headed to a local plant for recycling.
More than 2,500 of the burned vehicles have been purchased by a local company, Garden Street Iron & Metal based in Fort Myers.
Robert Weber, who owns the salvage yard, said he bought 2,551 of the more than 3,500 rentals damaged by the fire, which includes everything from sedans and SUVs to vans and buses.
“This is definitely a rare occasion,” he said.
Usually, he buys a few cars at a time at auctions, or a car or two from individual sellers.
“Generally, you just don’t get this size of a cleanup,” Weber said. “We buy automobiles every day, all year long, but usually in much smaller quantities.”
Garden Street, which has been in business for more than 30 years, started stacking up and hauling the remains of the rentals away on Friday from the storage area where the fire started with 20 vehicles on April 3. The fire rapidly spread to thousands of others before it could be stopped by firefighters.
The grassy area is where extra cars are parked when they’re not in demand.
Previous coverage:Rental car companies assessing losses from Friday’s fire at Southwest Florida International Airport
Garden Street is moving about 300 cars a day to its salvage yard off Metro Parkway. At that rate, Weber expects to be transporting cars for another six to eight days, not counting the weekend when his crews aren’t on duty.
He doesn’t anticipate finishing the job until next week.
A shredder at his salvage yard will grind up all the vehicles, separating all of the metal from the “garbage and ash in this case,” Weber said.
The metal, he said, will then be shipped off to steel plants to be remilled so it can be reused.
Garden Street purchased damaged cars from Avis and Enterprise, but Weber said to his disappointment the only locally based car rental company, Hertz, headquartered in Estero, chose to go with an out-of-town salvage company instead.
Hertz, he said, went with Tampa-based Trademark Metals Recycling instead, which started hauling its cars away Monday. The salvage company is part of Nucor, which Weber described as a Goliath in the scrap metal industry.
In an email, Lauren Luster, Hertz’s spokeswoman said: “We worked with our longstanding national partner to dispose of the salvage vehicles, who subcontracted with TMR — who has many locations in Florida — and deployed their Punta Gorda location to do the work.”
Most of the cars Weber purchased — about 2,300 — belonged to the Avis Budget Group, parent of the Avis and Budget rental brands, he said, while Enterprise Holdings, which operates the Enterprise, National and Alamo rental brands, only lost a few hundred in the fire.
Previously:Fire burns in field near Southwest Florida International Airport
The fire damaged about 1,200 Hertz vehicles.
Road block:Can Hertz survive another year? Company raises doubts in new regulatory filing
“Preliminary findings have not revealed anything suspicious at this time,” said Devin Galetta, a liaison for the fire marshal’s office, in an email.
The fire triggered a countywide response that included about a dozen fire departments, who fought it on the ground and by air, emptying their tankers and dropping water on it from helicopters to put it as quickly as possible.
Airport officials reported that 3,850 vehicles stored in the grassy area escaped damage.
Witnesses saw and heard multiple small explosions, flames jumping high in the air and showers of sparks.
A group of cars involved in the fire remains fenced off and won’t be touched for now, Weber said, because they appear to be part of the ongoing investigation.
“I don’t know what is going to happen to those,” he said.
Kaitlin Greenockle, a reporter for the Fort Myers News-Press, contributed to this story.
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YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE that they truly intend for you to OWN NOTHING. No house, No Car, NO possessions, anything they allow to have will be RENTED. They will determine your rental allowances based on your social credit score, which of course is designed by them.
WEF Caught Scrubbing ‘You Will Own Nothing and Be Happy’ Post From Internet
Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum has quietly deleted the infamous “You will own nothing and be happy” tweet and article from the internet and want you to forget they ever said this.
The infamous tweet and article, which threatened humanity with a modern, updated version of slavery, proved deeply unpopular with ordinary people, spawning memes and elevating Klaus Schwab into the pantheon of the world’s most reviled men.
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