jasons

Sorry, but most of the construction down there is not new and not in accordance with great building codes. There are tons of older ranch homes built at grade on canals. Now, many more of them have been torn-down and replaced in the last few years with multi-million-dollar 3-story monstrosities that take-up every inch of the lot space. But there’s a tremendous amount of ‘legacy’ home construction still around from the 1950’s-70’s era when they developed those areas. And the vast majority of strip centers, restaurants, etc. west of the Tamiami Trail are old school too. It’s old development. Downtown Sarasota is a redevelopment zone so you can’t compare that to other areas. The amount of property damage in Sarasota, Siesta, Longboat, AMI, etc., will be staggering.

I'll chime in about Sharpiegate (since, ironically, I can't talk politics on my own forum, but I think it's best that way) -- I'm an Independent and I lean Libertarian. I think it's fair to say most of the media has been out to get Trump since day one. It's no secret they cannot stand him. Justifiable? Yes. He brings it on himself with his combative style, idiotic comments and constant tweetstorm. But let's call a spade a spade -- anything to make him look bad goes into overdrive. Especially outlets like CNN. But that's another topic for another forum. Sharpiegate is a new low for Trump. As someone who has been committed to delivering accurate and scientific information to the public, and always preaching the mantra of "When in doubt, follow the official guidance from the NHC" - this is enraging. Meteorologists and Emergency Management Officials have it tough enough as it is, cutting through the BS and dealing with old-timers who always refuse to evacuate, regardless of the situation. But now that Trump has turned a scientific discussion into a political one -- it's going to be that much harder. The undermining of the NWS and the NHC is unforgivable. James Spann - whom I deeply respect - is exactly right. This tweet by an 'unidentified spokesperson' at NOAA is nothing but a political sham. It was ordered by Trump to his Secretary of Commerce to 'set the story straight.' It's disgusting; it's beyond the pale. I have relatives who are die-hard Trump supporters. I have tried my best to use this example to show them once and for all that this man cares for his reputation above all else, even peoples' lives and safety. This is dangerous and unprecedented. Yet, they still rebuff my criticism, even though I'm a co-owner of Storm2k and have at least 10X the meteorological knowledge of all of them combined. What's even more disheartening is that these are otherwise smart and intelligent people, but they are completely blinded by pure politics. I've tried to get through to them and I can't. One of them told me today that I was 'alienating' them from the family and my response was "I'm so sorry - I thought Sharpiegate was a no-brainer!" It baffles me that they cannot see the truth or reason in all of this. They believe the sharpie map was real? Really? And the criticism of it is another CNN-driven-media conspiracy? Are they kidding me? I've read commentary that this is perhaps an opportunity to discredit NOAA and the NWS as it relates to global warming research. If that's the case, then again, it's disgraceful and does us all a disservice. The purpose of those organizations is to be objective and deliver accurate information while adhering to the scientific method we were all taught in grade school. In summary, the events of the last week have been horrifying. It is a sad and pathetic state of affairs when our President is allowed to distort official information, break the law by altering official forecasting products, and not only gets away with it -- but a significant percentage of the population still shrugs it off as 'fake news'. I can only hope that somehow, people will finally see this naked narcissism for what it really is, because it is a danger to our national security.

I will say one thing regarding overdevelopment - that was a valid point with all the concrete and flooding. I moved to the Houston area in 2005 and I’ve lost count of the number of 100, 500, 1,000 & “unprecedented” floods we have gotten over the last 14 years. It’s become routine for any major rain event to break some sort of record.

Josh's money comes from his digital marketing business. He didn't get into chasing for the money. The new show probably just finally covered all the crazy plane tickets/hotels/cars/equipment he's purchased over the years so he could chase at a moment's notice.

I think I've been on the interwebs long enough to know when someone is trolling. They are usually folks with self-esteem issues compensating for something.

Some people seem to take pleasure in just being an a$$hole apparently.

No, you missed the point. That house was the only new construction in the area; it was concrete pilings, and it was the only one left standing. All the other houses that were washed away were older houses on wooden pilings. All the new houses in Gilchrist are now built higher and on concrete pilings, like the yellow house.

Look at a photo of the lone standing house left in Gilchrist, TX after Ike and get back to us.