Irma

Irma. Helen & I live in a Condo on the water with Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway, so Irma was a concern to us even though our building was designed to take a Category 5 hit. Our building is built on engineered concrete pilings which go way down into the ground and has post tensioned concrete floors and a post tensioned concrete roof system. Also, we are 15 feet above the Base Flood Elevation for our location. Consequently, very low insurance rates.

Approximately, 8-unit owners of 48 total decided to stay and ride out the storm. Helen & I decided to visit our children in Buffalo, NY because I was sure the power would go out as well as water & sewer. As it turned out the power did not go out but water & sewer did for 4 days. We had a great visit with our children in Buffalo and when we returned everything was fine with water & sewer restored.

Having lived in Buffalo for many years and experiencing the Blizzard of 1977, where we couldn’t drive for 8 days because some of the snow drifts were so high like 10’ to 12’, a good protocol was always to have food in the car, never let the fuel tank get below 1/2, cell phone charged, and extra clothing to stay warm. Similar thinking is good for Florida only during hurricane season, adding water and deleting the warm clothing.

For our area on the West Coast of Florida near Sarasota, the Florida Indians always talked about how the area was protected and looking over 100 years, that is true. The majority of storms hit the East Coast or go up the East Coast and the others go into the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas and Louisiana.

During past hurricane seasons and storms, from a historical perspective, Real Estate has not seen a significate change in sales. In fact, we had showings on our properties 4 days after Irma.

Florida is great with the sunny, fantastic climate but you need to pay attention to the construction of your residence and flood plain locations. When looking for a new residence or relocating to another, we can help you with both!