Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

This looks like it's gonna be a bad one. My daughter and family, who live in New Orleans, have also left. This is the first time they have ever felt like they had to.

Good luck to you and yours!

 

New Orleans doesn't look too bad.

It is currently trying to decimate our house.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

The house is not too bad, a bunch of shingles missing and the roof is leaking in a few places but overall it's intact.

Garage didn't fare so well. Pontiac is all dented up and the visor is gone, the Plymouth is somewhere under the rubble.

 

Don’t know what to say Phil…so glad you are safe and house intact. The garage and cars…not so good. Hopefully the damage to the cars is repairable. Take care and be safe while cleaning up!

 

Man, that's a sad picture. But, the Pontiac can be saved. Maybe even keep it like it is showing battle scars.

 

Oh man! That's terrible. My daughter and family (who lives in New Orleans) took off for Austin which surprised me as they usually stay put. Looks like leaving was the right thing to do.

I sure hope you can come back from this. If anyone can, it's you.

 

I take it that you and your family were somewhere safe!? What a shame. All the meticulous work that you’ve put into your car and garage messed up by Mother Nature. Let’s all hope that the damage isn’t as bad as it looks upon closer examination.

 

Yeah, we are safe in Texas.

The next few weeks are going to be not fun.

 

Very sorry to hear about all this Phil. But thank God you and family are ok.

 

Just seen the new aerial photography of the area.


You can see the path the tornado took.

 

Sorry to see this Phil. Breaks my heart. Can't imagine how you all feel. At least you and your family are safe and you can rebuild.

 

So sorry for your loss. Glad you and family are safe. Do you have power?

 

We are currently staying with friends in Texas; water at home might be on by the weekend, electricity estimate is about a month. Phones might be about the same.

Basically if you don't bring it with you from somewhere else, you don't have it down there right now.

Imagine the power out from Clifton to Philly. That's what is currently out of service.

 

Our prayers are with you and your family! I am at a loss for words, sorry to see this happen to you!

 

Wow. That is big.

 

Yessir.

Over a million meters without power.

 

In Finland we have this joke, whats common between tornado and pride?
They arrive warm and moist and when they leave, they take your home and car..
Best wishes to you phil.
Allso my dog dumb, and her sister dumber( not included in picture) wish you all good.

 

And because my picture included so much ot like my daily beater camino and my wifes c10 i better put here one decent picture.

 

That dog looks smart to me!! Looks like she is guarding your beer cans in the bed of the El Camino.

 

So sad to see your property in such a sad state but glad you and yours are safe.

 

Phil!
Hoping and wishing you the best. That Pontiac is probably 16 gauge non martensite, means it can be PDRed without work hardening or if it even dented in the first place. Just another wild tale in the long history of an old elegant lady. And the structures can be built back even better than before...

I lived down in EBR parish through the 2005 hurricanes...

 

Thank y'all for all the well wishes (including all I haven't quoted here!). As with everything, the garage probably won't get rebuilt, I don't have the money. Insurance coverage is going to kill me, with the oh-so-lovely 5% total insured value deductible because the damage was from a hurricane. That deductible is almost 3x what I would get back to rebuild the garage. Go figure.

So, the future of the cars is uncertain right now. We'll see.

 

After IRMA went through the Keys in 2017, many of us learned he same painful insurance lesson, only in the Keys, I believe it's a 10% deductible. I had a friend had moderate damage to his roof and received a check for $20 for a $25,000 roof replacement on a house assessed at $250,000. He bought me a beer with the proceeds. I had taken a chance and had gone "naked" on my place. I ended up spending about $14,000 repairing it. My assessed value was $150,000. Do the math. We both ended up with significant out of pocket costs, except that he had been paying several thousands of dollars in premiums every year.

I bring this up, as most people "up north" (I was one) do not understand how insurance works in hurricane areas. It is not a panacea, and is worth the price only if your place is totally destroyed.

 

2005 in LA, Jakes Insurance Farm denied a claim in southern MS because the homeowner "didn't have flood coverage" and the house was judged to have been destroyed by water. Another claim was denied because that homeowner had flood coverage didn't have wind damage coverage and that home was destroyed by wind.

The houses were NEXT door to each other. This came out in court.

Might get in contact with a TX lawyer who is a member of Louisiana bar...and review your policy.

 

In my opinion, that would be throwing good money after bad. The rules are very clear-cut and actually sound good when you first hear them; basically, "If you lose your house, we'll pay for it less 10% of the assessed value". Since assessed value is usually a good bit less than the actual value, it's not a bad deal in the case of a total loss. However, when you realize that they don't pay a cent on any loss less than 5 or 10 percent (depending on where you are or who insures you), and a significantly lesser amount on other partial damage, they have greatly reduced their liability.

 

Yup, otherwise known as "look for my car in the For Sale section" when the time comes.

 

This is what a Chieftain looks like, with the suspension as low as it'll go...



Scrape up those road studs! (Roof is sat on the hood, unfortunately).

Colleague went put tarp on my roof in trade for a couple tarps for his house.

Phil

 

OUCH!