[AGE]

We went through this with Charley in Punta Gorda, FL in '04. Bad situation made worse by confusion. Our house had to be gutted and totally rebuilt--repairs came to about $175,000 for a place we bought for $161,000 in '92. FEMA does nothing if you own your own home and have insurance. I was 70 years old and worked in office jobs all of my life--so really could not do a whole lot of the rebuilding. Anyway, we were fortunate enough to find a contractor with a good Better Business rating.

We packed up and moved lock, stock(s), and barrel (s) and Lugers and moved nearly 200 miles away to get out of the commotion--and into a temporary rental house (Why not? Our insurance policy paid for temporary living if our house was unlivable.) It took 10 months to rebuild the house and it would have taken longer if we didn't bring stuff with us (fixtures, knobs, fans, etc.) every few weeks as we came back to review rebuilding progress. Local Lowes, Home Depots, etc. were swamped with big lines etc. as 20,000 houses were being rebuilt. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to get building supplies in New Orleans or Galveston today.

Our insurance company was fair with us and it all worked out well. We were homeless and living in a car full of guns looking for gas and food right after the hurricane. A year later most of our residential area was rebuilt but the commercial stuff is just now being rebuilt.

I hope and pray that Hugh and the others are OK. Naturally I hope they are adequately insured also and that they have the patience to get through the rebuilding mess if they have damage. Some folks really couldn't handle that after Charley.