Hurricane Sally Help?!?

Question

I had two quads in downtown Pensacola.  I had just rehabbed and rented all four of my downstairs units and was working on the upstairs units.  Hurricane Sally destroyed them.  I was not in a flood zone, so had no flood insurance, only hurricane insurance.  The storm sewers could not keep up and six feet of water rose up around them.  They are essentially uninhabitable due to a flood.  Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?  Does FEMA help with this or is it just SBA loans?  If anyone has been down this road, I would appreciate hearing from you.  Thanks, Jason

Colleen F. · Answer

So sorry for what you experienced, investment properties are regarded differently by FEMA and while you can get legal help and also aid will be provided to your tenants you won't get disaster relief in any meaningful way for your property.  Hopefully you have something that leases are canceled in such a case and you require renters insurance. You can apply for SBA loans.  Now if you lived there it is different I know that as owner occupants in a two family we did get assistance a number of years ago but also had flood insurance.  Had my brother not lived in the property they told us we would not have received that assistance. It could have changed but I doubt it.

Jason Garrett · Answer

Thanks Clint.

Clint Shelley · Answer

Pensacola always gets hammered. The way it is laid out combined with the sheer volume of rain that falls now, is something I don't how they can fix. I used to do DOT work there. There are some massive holding ponds off of cervantes Street and others. There all uphill from downtown. When you have the bay coming in from the south and that much rain, downtown has no chance. I would repair, stabilize, and sell. Good luck.

Clint

Jason Garrett · Answer

John, thank you for your comments as well.  Apparently hurricane insurance covers wind, and we did have some wind damage to include siding torn off and guttering bent up.  We also had giant trees blown over that took out the electric lines, tearing the mast and conduit right off the building.  So there is some that will be covered.  On a positive note, during a similar incident 6 years ago the city had issues in a different neighborhood.  The neighborhood found out that the city knew about the issue and didn't mitigate the risk.  The city settled out of court and paid for all damages, so maybe that will work out for us as well.  We will see.  This is going to be a tough issue for us, but we'll get through it.  We'll also be working with the SBA to get loans.  Has anyone every done that before?  Any advice?  Thanks.  Jason

Colleen F. · Answer

There is also a specific treatment we did to the wood studs that were exposed to suppress mold growth.  I can't remember exactly what it was. Not sure how often this happens in your area. They said you had 30 inches of rain in Pensacola in like 24 hours. I can't imagine that, good luck.

John Teachout · Answer

Is the insurance company going to deny a claim as in their eyes it was flooding and not hurricane damage? There's so many exclusions in FL insurance policies I've considered getting a liability only policy. ie, there just doesn't seem to be much bang for the buck.

Sorry this happened. You did the right thing by cutting off the sheetrock and peeling up the flooring. That's key to having less of a mess.

You'll probably need to do some electrical work if the water was brackish as the salt will corrode stuff.

I know it seems insurmountable but eventually it will all get sorted out and back to normal.

Jason Garrett · Answer

Colleen, Mary, thank you so much for your answers.   As I learn more I will keep this blog updated.   Today we cut out all the drywall and removed the flooring so it could dry out and not grow mold.   Tomorrow we will engage the city to figure out what their plans for this area are.   It bothers me that they know about this problem that can jeopardize lives, yet they aren’t doing anything about it.

Mary M. · Answer

I would call my local SBA office and also my local banks and mortgage brokers. Also contact your local MF /RE owners association and see what they say..... There must be funds available for businesses that get destroyed.

I would also contact my insurance company and see what they offer if anything. so sorry this happened

Hurricane Sally Help?!?

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