We're All Gonna Die! Hurricane Harvey MegaThread

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

My wife said "I'm sure the car dealers there will be giving people a break on the prices because of the floods."

I chuckled.

Tempted to drive there with an empty flatbed and pick up a flooded out car with papers, for maybe 2 grand or such.....bring it back here and overhaul it....

if the Ford dealer won't talk, maybe Chebby will.....

wife needs a new car....

[C5SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

My wife said "I'm sure the car dealers there will be giving people a break on the prices because of the floods."

I chuckled.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

My wife said "I'm sure the car dealers there will be giving people a break on the prices because of the floods."

I chuckled.

Originally Posted by C5SilverBullet

( as you both know ) Supply and demand drives prices.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by C5SilverBullet

I told her the best thing a dealer in your position can do to help people is to get them in their new vehicle as quickly as possible. That's what they really need.

I'm glad things are well at home, because you may be working a lot of hours for awhile.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by JRD77VET

( as you both know ) Supply and demand drives prices.

If any libertarians come in charge them triple and put a copy of Atlas Shrugged in the glove box.

Throw in a case of free bottled water.

[NavyC5]

Originally Posted by mrvette

I never heard/spotted any threads on that...how in hell did you ever find your car in NJ??? what led it up there?? Some guys hauled the car there, and fixed it up along the way to some car lot.....seems like a lot of bother for the $$ any used car is likely to bring.....Title fraud?? interesting....why?? car got a vin tag they swap for another that was in a wreck, I suppose...so how in hell can anyone tell the difference at that point???

Short story,
Guy on the "other" forum had a free Carfax for a year, wanted the VIN off my Vette to see what happened to it. Turns out it made it's way up north but after it went through the NJ DMV somehow the "salvage" title went away. Was able to find out the street the new owner lived on. Ran google street view and sure enough found the house with my old vette sitting out front. Put out the word if anyone was in the area. Someone was. Took the flood pics and info and knocked on the guy's door. Turns out he had no idea about the car's history and was PISSED!!!! Someone got the car as salvage, did the minimal to get in on the road on used the NJ DMV to wash the title. Funny side note, spoke to the NJ attorney general, gave her the info and it turns out we uncovered a HUGE title fraud operation running out of the DMV.

[NavyC5]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Wow, I didn't know about the title fraud part. So good on you again for doing that.

How much longer before you retire? I know you've got a bunch of PCS' already.

Just over 21 years now. Got a year in Korea and then 3 years in Germany. If not E-9 after that, retirement. Wonder if Adam will hire me at the NCM.

[NavyC5]

Originally Posted by DAB

just watching Fox news. they were touring thru a flooded house, now drained. high water mark was above the kitchen counters (normally 36"), and the crew was hauling out everything that got wet. a huge pile curbside of appliances, furniture, bedding, personal belongings.

take that picture and multiply it by about 50,000.....

and of course every one of these home will need new flooring, new wiring, new drywall, new appliances, new furniture, new bedding, new personal stuffs..... and new cars/trucks. and thousands of businesses likewise.


amazing.

Yup, however when my house flooded in Katrina, since the wiring was solid it didn't need to be replaced. A pump sprayer full of bleach was a must.

Originally Posted by snide

Don't forget, new exterior walls/siding, insulation, wiring, and possibly plumbing. As well, mold remediation/prevention.

Siding, depending on the kind should be ok. Mine was.

Originally Posted by DAB

yup.

if water touched it from flooding, throw it out and start over.

work gloves and a hammer are your first tools.

Mask...must have, don't want to breath the mold.

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

And don't forget, also, that even if you have cash in hand for all the repairs, good luck finding an available contractor to do the work. And whatever state agency polices people posing as contractors better staff up for enforcing the rules.

On a much smaller scale, of course, my county is still going through this after the fires of the last two years. We have over 500 homes now permitted and under construction, and pre-fire we had two building inspectors on the county payroll. We did a lot of creative things. We borrowed inspectors from neighboring counties where they weren't too busy, we recalled willing retired inspectors and reinstated their certifications, etc.

You'd be surprised. After Katrina, contractors rolled in from all over. My tile work was done by a guy from Cali.

[NavyC5]

Originally Posted by C5SilverBullet

Nine Ford dealers in the Houston area lost 100% of their inventory.

So, they're out what? $3.50?

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by NavyC5

Yup, however when my house flooded in Katrina, since the wiring was solid it didn't need to be replaced. A pump sprayer full of bleach was a must.



Siding, depending on the kind should be ok. Mine was.



Mask...must have, don't want to breath the mold.



You'd be surprised. After Katrina, contractors rolled in from all over. My tile work was done by a guy from Cali.

Oh, they will be there like boomtown rats. Not everyone will get lucky and get a good, genuine one. They've arrested a number of fake ones here.

[NavyC5]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

Oh, they will be there like boomtown rats. Not everyone will get lucky and get a good, genuine one. They've arrested a number of fake ones here.

Oh, I know. Any contractor I hired I went through a local company so I had recourse if something got messed up.

Funny story, guy in Gulfport hired a roofer to redo the shingles on his house after Katrina. The "roofer" glued the shingles on. No joke, like liquid nails to put the shingles on. First big wind....gone. Now, the funny part. The person that hired him, Gulfport Chief of Police. Yeah, contractor got found and put in jail.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

If any libertarians come in charge them triple and put a copy of Atlas Shrugged in the glove box.

Throw in a case of free bottled water.

Why throw in a book? The buyer agreed to the price already. I would take the book's cost out of your check.

[snide]

Originally Posted by C5SilverBullet

Nine Ford dealers in the Houston area lost 100% of their inventory.

Read that on the interwebs today. Glad to hear your store wasn't affected.

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by NavyC5

Just over 21 years now. Got a year in Korea and then 3 years in Germany. If not E-9 after that, retirement. Wonder if Adam will hire me at the NCM.

Yep, one year in Best Korea = BOP, Spang or Ramstein?

While in Germany, ya wanna drop a new BMW M5 in the mail for me?

[NavyC5]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Yep, one year in Best Korea = BOP, Spang or Ramstein?

While in Germany, ya wanna drop a new BMW M5 in the mail for me?

Took the assignment in Korea to get the Germany assignment. Going to Ramstein, First Combat Comm.

As far as the BMW, no problem as soon as you drop 100K in my bank account

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by NavyC5

Took the assignment in Korea to get the Germany assignment. Going to Ramstein, First Combat Comm.

As far as the BMW, no problem as soon as you drop 100K in my bank account

I'm envious since I miss the travel and the food. Lunch at a sidewalk cafe in the little town near Edelweiss Lodge. Hopping off the train in Frankfurt and finding the little places that serve plate lunches while still in the train station. Hauling ass on the Autobahn just because. A trip to Bastogne, Belgium to see where badasses endured so much in the fight against the Nazis. Oh man, very envious.

The money, I'll send you 100k in Venezuela funds.

PS In Landstuhl, there was a grocery store near the train station. In the parking lot, dude had a little donor trailer set up. Damn good donors. Sometimes, we'd even send a runner while at work for lunch/dinner. Chris' on the main drag was a good place for a sit down lunch/dinner. This is info from 2004 so things may have changed.

[DAB]

at least $25,000,000,000.


100,000 homes, say an average of $250,000 of damage and losses each.

now add in the commercial losses to property and stock.

then add in the damage to publicly owned stuff (roads, bridges, etc).

and you can easily see $80,000,000,000 to $120,000,000,000 of damages.


say each home damaged needs 40 sheets of drywall to replace damaged drywall. that's 4,000,000 sheets of drywall. better start that drywall plant running 24/7 today. same for everything else that was damaged. 100,000 new appliance sets. acres and acres of flooring.



and then you have to find someone to do the work if you cannot do it yourself. and you need a place to live until the house is fixed.

[Cybercowboy]

Originally Posted by DAB

and then you have to find someone to do the work if you cannot do it yourself. and you need a place to live until the house is fixed.

In Joplin after the tornado around 10,000 structures had to be rebuilt, some as large as hospitals and high schools, but mostly homes. A bunch of contractors from outside the area swooped in and advertised with billboards and other means. Some were fine, but many sucked bigly. It will be the same in Houston I would imagine.

[C5SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

I told her the best thing a dealer in your position can do to help people is to get them in their new vehicle as quickly as possible. That's what they really need.

I'm glad things are well at home, because you may be working a lot of hours for awhile.

Already begun. We're offering shuttle and towing service also at no cost.

[DAB]

gotta love the petty bureaucrats. listening to Rush on the way home from the dentist, he reports that every student in Houston will be able to get 3 meals a day at no charge for the next year at their school.

wonderful!

but.....no matter what your situation at home, whether mom and dad can afford to send a lunch with you or not, you still have to fill out their application form.

218,000 students = 218,000 pointless applications. why? so the gov't files will be complete, lest someone commit fraud against the gov't.

a box of paper is 5,000 sheets. so this will generate 44 boxes of useless forms. unbelievable.