Gulf Coast Residents- Evacuating with no hope of returning

[Jagno]

A Gulf Coast friend in Mississippi brought up a very scary and very possible situation that we may be facing this hurricane season.

Okay, everyone knows the drill...................prepare home, turn off utilities, load up the vehicles, cargo trailers, campers with a couple of weeks supplies and leave early. This is a great plan most hurricane seasons.

This year is NOT an ordinary hurricane season by any means of the imagination.

This time could be different.

With the ever-growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, all coastal GOM residents should understand something very important. They - TPTB - may not let you back in to your neighborhood after the storm has passed! Before anyone dismisses this as far-fetched, consider that in our quest to be as prepared as possible for these storms you absolutely need to consider scenarios that most people would consider unlikely.

Should a hurricane contaminate sections of the coast with oil deposits, authorities might decree that given areas are too dangerous to return to. I saw this phenomenon in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita and there was little or no chemical contamination involved. If anything, TPTB are becoming more draconian in wielding authority at all levels and a career-oriented - or simply power-mad - nanny state bureaucrat might make the call that you, a mere citizen, can't appropriately assess the risks you are willing to take to get to or remain on your own property. There are lots of precedents for this sort of behavior.


We've all watched this spill and some areas are already having sealife coated in oil washing up on the beaches but few of us considered this same oil coating everything in our environments and homes. We all understand the possiblity of having to rebuild structures but has the concept of having nothing to rebuild upon ever entered into the equation. Not for me. This puts a whole new twist on hurricane preparations and alot of food for thought as you review your storm readiness this year. If we considered and prepare accordingly now then the possibility won't shock us so bad in the middle of a crises.

[Dionne]

Google......Cordova, Alaska oil spill.......a glimpse into our future.

[Jagno]

Finally got a determination from State Farm on coverage for this type of scenario of either/or both of being evacuated and not being allowed to return or rebuild on your land. The answer is NO. Contamination is not covered under any homeowners policy and no known coverage exists. Evacuation expenses will not cover either since it has to be an evacuation due to a "covered" situation such as fire, flood, hurricane.......

[WeatherLovingDoc]

I'm sorry Jagno. I can imagine the fear and growing frustration you and others in the Gulf are feeling. To hear the State Farm interpretation today must really get you angry: you buy homeowner coverage, never in your life thinking the terror which might be approaching is oil from a MAN-made disaster.

While it won't be quick, and it may not be as much as needed, I hope that if your worse case scenario plays out and you leave, not to return, that some legal compensation will eventually come your way: maybe through BP (and there are many LTD's, INC's etc, of BP as I understand it), maybe through the other companies involved, maybe through US emergency funds.

Foremost however, I hope they cap this well so good people like yourself and Coastal residents don't have to leave your hearth and home. I'm really thinking a lot of you all, here near our nation's capital.

My best to you.
WLD

[Jagno]

I'm sorry Jagno. I can imagine the fear and growing frustration you and others in the Gulf are feeling. To hear the State Farm interpretation today must really get you angry: you buy homeowner coverage, never in your life thinking the terror which might be approaching is oil from a MAN-made disaster.

While it won't be quick, and it may not be as much as needed, I hope that if your worse case scenario plays out and you leave, not to return, that some legal compensation will eventually come your way: maybe through BP (and there are many LTD's, INC's etc, of BP as I understand it), maybe through the other companies involved, maybe through US emergency funds.

Foremost however, I hope they cap this well so good people like yourself and Coastal residents don't have to leave your hearth and home. I'm really thinking a lot of you all, here near our nation's capital.

My best to you.
WLD

Thank you for your compassion. It seems that the llc of this particular oil rig has already begun bankrupcy proceedings so monetary compensation from this company will not happen. Even if it did not file bankrupcy just a quick look at the Exxon Valdeez and you'll see that lawsuits are no where near a courtroom even today.

[Alladin]

If your residence is located within the storm surge, you would be wise to consider moving before the worst case event.

[jinftl]

This prospect is so beyond disturbing that all we can do is just pray that no storm ever comes near the oil spill area. The environmental impacts of such an oil-based surge are horrific, the only thing that makes that prospect even worse is the thought of what the insurance companies (and BP) would put effected residents through as they try to salvage some aspect of their former lives, if only in a lump sum $ payment. If anyone group wanted to perpetrate envronmental terrorism on the u.s., this would be a way to do it.

A Gulf Coast friend in Mississippi brought up a very scary and very possible situation that we may be facing this hurricane season.

Okay, everyone knows the drill...................prepare home, turn off utilities, load up the vehicles, cargo trailers, campers with a couple of weeks supplies and leave early. This is a great plan most hurricane seasons.

This year is NOT an ordinary hurricane season by any means of the imagination.

This time could be different.

With the ever-growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, all coastal GOM residents should understand something very important. They - TPTB - may not let you back in to your neighborhood after the storm has passed! Before anyone dismisses this as far-fetched, consider that in our quest to be as prepared as possible for these storms you absolutely need to consider scenarios that most people would consider unlikely.

Should a hurricane contaminate sections of the coast with oil deposits, authorities might decree that given areas are too dangerous to return to. I saw this phenomenon in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita and there was little or no chemical contamination involved. If anything, TPTB are becoming more draconian in wielding authority at all levels and a career-oriented - or simply power-mad - nanny state bureaucrat might make the call that you, a mere citizen, can't appropriately assess the risks you are willing to take to get to or remain on your own property. There are lots of precedents for this sort of behavior.


We've all watched this spill and some areas are already having sealife coated in oil washing up on the beaches but few of us considered this same oil coating everything in our environments and homes. We all understand the possiblity of having to rebuild structures but has the concept of having nothing to rebuild upon ever entered into the equation. Not for me. This puts a whole new twist on hurricane preparations and alot of food for thought as you review your storm readiness this year. If we considered and prepare accordingly now then the possibility won't shock us so bad in the middle of a crises.

[brunota2003]

I'd hate to point this out, but if something like this were to happen, I would not be expecting any money from BP at all, thus not planning for it overall. Look at the scale of Katrina...if something like that were to happen again, and oil washed up in the surge zones (thus contaminating all of those properties), the amount of money that would have to be spent to compensate everyone would easily put BP into bankruptcy (and beyond).

You simply cannot pay people money when there is no money left to give them.

[jinftl]

And a bankrupt BP is the last thing anything would really want to see...good luck to anyone getting a penny from them if they file bankruptcy. What is the likelihood of a broke and bankrupt BP paying for clean up costs? What about the jobs BP provides to residents on the Gulf? This could be a real test of the anti-government interaction brigade (it's Obama's fault and he isn't doing enough, but at the same time, government shouldn't be involved in private enterprise)!!! Let the market 'do it's thing'....we'll see how that goes.

Out of tragedy there is an opportunity to learn, to grow. If this oil spill only is about just capping it...which of course must be done...and then going back to business as usual, it has been for nothing. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. Going green is not a liberal mantra....it really does make sense for our planet. What makes sense for our planet provides harmony for us all. This is a blog for the tropics...and I apologize for digressing....but mankind is more than capable of doing greater far-reaching and far-lasting damage that even a Cat 5 hurricane could do. Not one named storm into the season, and 2010 has already been a devastating year for the Gulf...and possibly beyond.

Quote of the century so far (after Let's Roll) - Drill baby drill!!!

I'd hate to point this out, but if something like this were to happen, I would not be expecting any money from BP at all, thus not planning for it overall. Look at the scale of Katrina...if something like that were to happen again, and oil washed up in the surge zones (thus contaminating all of those properties), the amount of money that would have to be spent to compensate everyone would easily put BP into bankruptcy (and beyond).

You simply cannot pay people money when there is no money left to give them.