Having been through IKE I agree with "ole" about people who leave boats with any kind of
canvas on when a storm is brewing.
In my twisted view of the world they should not get any insurance payments.
There is no excuse for leaving sails up on boats. ALL
canvas should be taken off if a storm is even hinted at being in the area. We now generally have several days advance notice of where a storm may go. It's just not that hard to take it down but if you get missed a few times I know you get lazy.
Our marina, Bayland Park Marina in Baytown
Texas is a
classic example of what happens when the management is to lazy to do anything to help stop damage before a storm.
The pilings were a good 6-8ft shorter than any other marina in the Galveston bay area. We tenants were told we had nothing to worry about because the pilings were actually "extra high" as discribed in their literature and we were safe behind the dike. We were also told the staff would secure the docks with chains or
cables which never happened. The entire hurricane preparedness plan of the management, in hind sight, was to lock the office door behind them when they left.
As it turned out the entire marina, docks and all floated away down the bay. All 85 boats(19' to 65') ended up on the bank. Most boats were minimally damaged, still tied up neatly in their slips. To add insult to injury the management when asked for a
security guard and some fencing replied that they didn't know if that was their resposibility. The boat owners stood 24/7 watch until the city got tired of the bad publicity of people having to sit armed guard on city property. To say I'm still a bit pissed at Baytown would be an understatement.
To this day although we tenants were promised the marina would be quickly rebuilt not a
single lick of
work has been done. The boat owners were charged $253 per foot of boat length to have our boats put back in the water even though the city was insured and received that
money last Oct. We of course were not able to sue the city because, although the lawyers we contacted figured we had a pretty good case, we didn't have the kind of
money needed to pursue litigation. The insurance companies(all the big names and the little one too) just paid the claims and didn't even attempt to hold the city responsible.
That is why our rates are so high. The days of insurance companies standing up for their clients is long gone. They don't care, you are not in good hands, and they are definately not like a good neighbour.
The boat owners stood together and looked after one another which is how it has to be. The
government should be the last resort.
Of course I'm preaching to the choir as you're from the area that it seems got forgotten................m