Katrina vs. the truck

The inside of the truck smelled as bad as it looked....

Back in 2004, when Hurricane Ivan was heading straight for Pascagoula - we loaded up two cars and all headed to Birmingham, AL. Ivan turned at the very last minute and barrelled into Florida and parts of Alabama and Pascagoula was spared a direct hit. Ivan didn't spare the siding or fascia on the North side of our house, however - and we immediately filed an insurance claim under our hurricane windstorm coverage. Insurance estimated the repairs at just over $1400. After our $1000 deductible was paid - insurance issued a check to us for little more than $400. (Our actual cost of repairs was actually over $2000 because we wanted to add plywood sheathing under the vinyl siding to keep it from blowing off in the next thunderstorm....)

In July of 2005 we received a notice from our insurance company informing us that our premium was subject to a 15% increase due to the fact that we had made a claim during the previous year. These folks paid out $400 to us and as a result we were facing a premium of close to $2900 per year. Frankly, we couldn't afford it. Our insurance premium and taxes already made up well over half of our mortgage payment.

Dave called the insurance company to find ways to lower that premium. First, we decided to
choose a higher deductible and raised it from $1000 to $2500. Second, we lowered our contents coverage. And finally, Dave dropped comprehensive coverage on his 1995 Ford Truck. He called me that afternoon and said 'It's paid for now... It's ten years old anyway.. we'll work something out if something happens to it.'

I probably don't have to mention that one month later Hurricane Katrina hit the northern Gulf of Mexico and flooded our house and both of our cars.

We never expected to have a claim on my car - on Dave's truck - and on our house at the same time. Never. If Dave's truck had simply flooded -- we would have been in a position to take out a loan to finance another used truck. My car was still covered -- but we had also had it for less than a year -- meaning whatever insurance was going to pay it was going to go to the finance company to pay the loan. When it was all said and done we received approximately $3000 for what amounted to the loss of both of our cars. To further complicate matters, we quickly learned that since a huge percentage of vehicles flooded along the Gulf Coast - used car prices skyrocketed.... It is next to impossible to find even one used vehicle large enough to carry 4 kids and two adults for that amount of money here right now.

Our first response from FEMA showed that our claim for the vehicles were denied. A phone call to FEMA later and we had the explanation: FEMA will only provide assistance for the loss of one vehicle and they showed that our one vehicle was covered by insurance. Dave asked about his truck and the lady at FEMA informed him that FEMA did not even consider his truck in the equation because they only provide assistance for one vehicle. Er.. and of course they choose the one vehicle that did have insurance coverage.

It took us months to learn that FEMA decisions are not final - and so when we filed our appeal we also appealed the decision about the vehicles. On January 13, 2006 we received a letter from FEMA which read, in part:

"We have reviewed your Disaster Assistance Application, and in order to determine your eligibility for assistance, the following information is necessary:

Transportation losses:
1. Copy of title(s) for damaged vehicle(s)
2. Copy of current registration card(s) for damaged vehicle(s).
3. List all owned vehicle(s) (year, make, model) and a brief description of the damaged vehicle.
4. Verification of vehicle(s) expenses, an estimate or a bill from a mechanic verifying the repair costs and verifying that the damages to your vehicle(s) were caused by the disaster. Please include the name of the mechanic and company name, address and telephone number.
5. Verification of comprehensive insurance coverage settlement OR statement from you stating insurance coverage does not exist.
6. Explain the reason(s) there is a need for more than one vehicle.
7. Verification of liability insurance coverage settlement OR statement from you stating insurance coverage does not exist."

I'd like to think Dave's response went something like this:

Item 1: A copy of the title to the Ford truck is enclosed because I had forgotten to put it in the glove compartment and had it on a high shelf. However, the title to the Durango is not available. The title copy which state law requires to be kept in the glove compartment of the vehicle was flooded beyond recognition. The original title was held by the lienholder, Chrysler Financial, and was turned over to the insurance company so the vehicle could be destroyed.

Item 2: The most current registration for the Ford truck (now expired) was in the glove compartment of the vehicle and was flooded beyond recognition. The most current registration for the Durango suffered the same fate.

Item 3: The 1995 Ford truck is rusting in the driveway. It smells like fish and cat litter and bolts fall off of it daily without provocation. The 2002 Dodge Durango also smells like fish and cat litter and is wasting away in a scrap yard somewhere in Mobile, Alabama.

Item 4: The 1995 Ford truck has not been brought to a mechanic. It was completely submerged in salt water for almost two hours. I have enclosed photos of the truck during the storm (the circled gray area in the bottom left of picture #1 is the cab of my truck before it disappeared) and after the storm to show its position in the driveway (Trust me, it hasn't moved.) I do not need a mechanic to tell me that it is a total loss. The Durango was not totally submerged in salt water for two hours -- it was only half-submerged in salt water for two hours. However, even our insurance company did not require a mechanic's estimate before towing this vehicle to the scrap yard. The insurance paperwork for the Durango is enclosed.

Item 5: Insurance coverage information is enclosed for both vehicles.

Item 6: Pascagoula, MS is nothing like a large metropolitan center. There is no public transportation system. Businesses are not within walking or biking distance of our home -- in addition the small neighborhood convenience stores which would have once been accessible flooded right along with our home and both of our vehicles and are not open for business. Fortunately, our two oldest children attend school within walking distance. Please note that they attend a private school and there is no bus to take when there is a violent thunderstorm. They can not be dropped off at school any earlier than 7 am according to school administration. Also, if they are dropped off between 7 am and 7:30 am we will be charged daily for 'aftercare' services. I must be at work by 7 am. My workplace is a twenty-mile round-trip from our home (and the school). I am unable to drop the children off at school before 7 am per the school rules mentioned above - and must therefore be late for work each day in order to get them there between 7am and 7:30 am and then pay for a full day of 'aftercare' services for bringing them 30 minutes early .

Alternatively, my wife and children can wake up at 4:30 am everyday to get dressed. Dress and change the two year old and the 5 month old. Bundle them up to get them in the car during the violent thunderstorm or downpour that is causing the problem in the first place... and take me to work - leaving at 6:30 am. If she drives like a maniac in the rain - she will manage to get the boys back to school around 7:15 -- in plenty of time for school.. but still too early to avoid the full day aftercare charges for a mere 15 minutes. I suppose she could then drive everyone home and unload them in the rain. By the time she's finished with that it should be time to reload them all and bring the boys back to school.

But then -- I also have to come home from work and the boys have to come home from school. It would make sense since we're paying for it anyway to go ahead and leave them in aftercare until 5:30. But of course, I don't get off work until 5:30 and with a 30 minute drive at the least to get back to the school -- I would have to leave work early (and lose the pay) to get to the school in time to pick them up. Of course if my wife dropped me off in the morning she could pack up the 4 month old and the two year old and drive out to get the boys and then make the ten mile drive to the shipyard and wait for me at the security gate. I hope it's not raining by then.

None of this takes into account the problems of either being stranded at work with no way to get home in the event of an emergency at home involving my wife and four young children.. or the alternative - my wife stranded at home with the children. This all might have been less of a problem back when communication was a bit more reliable -- but as of today we still do not have a regular telephone line available at our home.

Finally, having only one vehicle will make it absolutely impossible for my wife to even look for a job, let alone actually have one if we find that we can no longer combat the financial burden the hurricane has caused on my salary alone.

Item 7: Insurance coverage information for both vehicles is enclosed.

Of course - this isn't exactly what his answer was... But I think it was close.

In the meantime, we decided it was time to say goodbye to the truck. It was a hard moment. It had been my father's truck. My mother had sold it to Dave a few years ago at a good price. I always found it strange how it reminded me of my father and of my husband all at the same time when I saw it. George cried when he saw the towtruck. Dave told me it had been his favorite vehicle ever. He didn't want it to go. But go it did.... Off to some scrapyard with the thousands of other vehicular Katrina victims...

Goodbye, fair truck. You're sorely missed.