an even more frightening perspective

[Overlander]

I would like to see one instance of anyone on this board being personally affected, in real time, by illegal immigration.

Not some bullshit hyperbole throwing around articles read …podcasts listened to….or fear mongering speeches.

[japhy]

I would like to see one instance of anyone on this board being personally affected, in real time, by illegal immigration.

One of the Guatemalans who overstayed his potato visa put down the new floor in my residence in the Empire. He did an awesome job, very well detailed work.

Another one painted the interior of the place after the drywall sub finished. He did a great job as well.

[japhy]

At coffee this AM we had three artists there who had all lived in Asheville NC, but left during the covid hoax. They were sharing photos from friends (probably crisis actors) in Asheville of the flooding. They would be cleaning up for years if it was real, which it isn't, because all of this is fake and just done to make trumpty plumpty look bad.

SO UNFAIR! SO UNFAIR!

THEY are eating the dogs!

[Overlander]

At coffee this AM we had three artists there who had all lived in Asheville NC, but left during the covid hoax. They were sharing photos from friends (probably crisis actors) in Asheville of the flooding. They would be cleaning up for years if it was real, which it isn't, because all of this is fake and just done to make trumpty plumpty look bad.

SO UNFAIR! SO UNFAIR!

THEY are eating the dogs!

Election Interference!!!
Untanned balls!

[Shirley]

At coffee this AM we had three artists there who had all lived in Asheville NC, but left during the covid hoax. They were sharing photos from friends (probably crisis actors) in Asheville of the flooding. They would be cleaning up for years if it was real, which it isn't, because all of this is fake and just done to make trumpty plumpty look bad.

SO UNFAIR! SO UNFAIR!

THEY are eating the dogs!

Election Interference!!!
Untanned balls!

They've even convinced no fewer than 55 of the crisis actors to pretend they died due to Helene.

Of course, they don't mention that they were probably all old and were ready to die anyway, or died of something else and then fell into the water.

[KUTradition]

I would like to see one instance of anyone on this board being personally affected, in real time, by illegal immigration.

Not some bullshit hyperbole throwing around articles read …podcasts listened to….or fear mongering speeches.

they may or may not have delivered a new refrigerator and couch to us recently

or, were you solely looking a negative effect?

[KUTradition]

I would like to see one instance of anyone on this board being personally affected, in real time, by illegal immigration.

One of the Guatemalans who overstayed his potato visa put down the new floor in my residence in the Empire. He did an awesome job, very well detailed work.

Another one painted the interior of the place after the drywall sub finished. He did a great job as well.

i wonder if your immigrant helpers know mine…

[Overlander]

Crickets from the “I hate immigrants because _________ folks I see.

[dolomite]

“So why hasn’t the green energy revolution happened yet? Because without breakthrough innovations, it remains enormously expensive. The world’s poor nations don’t have trillions to spend.”
False Alarm by Bjorn Lomborg

[japhy]

The climate crisis and the immigration crisis are about to converge, in the southeastern US.

Somewhere out West they are wrapping up produce harvests and workers are thinking about the trip back home.

And recruiters are asking the workers if they would like to extend their stay and make some extra cash instead. It is going to take a lot of bodies who are used to hard work and living in tough conditions to get the roads and towns cleared. Now this work could be done by 'Mericans who need another side gig and don't mind traveling and sleeping in the beds of pickups or under tarps and shitting in the woods, but I am thinking that is not how this will go down.

Thoughts and prayers are sweet and all but when shit needs to get done, we call in the migrants.

Now in preparation for this, rubes you should buy another gun and some ammo to keep the looters from the big cities who are headed your way from stealing the family bibles. The gun stores will be open for business, we don't need no stinkin' permits, they will be selling them right out of the delivery trucks, cuz their stores are gone. The mongrels are comin' and yer womenfolk need protectin'.

But don't shoot the brown folks pulling the trees off yer home, cuz that would definitely slow things down.

In the meantime the vulture capitalists are rubbing their hands together and looking at the damage on TV.

More thoughts and prayers. We care; for you, your customers and your employees.

But vultures eat carrion and your buildings and businesses are dead and someone needs to clean up the mess.

There is a lot of money to made between now and year end. And it will be mostly hourly work with no maximum. The smell of dividends is heavy in the air today.

Thank you for your debt service, rubes.

[KUTradition]

The climate crisis and the immigration crisis are about to converge, in the southeastern US.

unless i’m mistaken, the og version of this thread (on an earlier iteration of the board) started with just such a notion

(and guess what? it’s only going to get worse)

[KUTradition]

quite frankly, these are the kinds of relationships and partnerships that are going to mitigate the accelerating crisis

https://www.americanprogress.org/articl ... -straight/

[Overlander]

quite frankly, these are the kinds of relationships and partnerships that are going to mitigate the accelerating crisis

https://www.americanprogress.org/articl ... -straight/

Looks like grown-ups doing grown-up stuff

[KUTradition]

quite frankly, these are the kinds of relationships and partnerships that are going to mitigate the accelerating crisis

https://www.americanprogress.org/articl ... -straight/

Looks like grown-ups doing grown-up stuff

sadly, some would prefer photo ops and political theater

[KUTradition]

smfh

https://www.fastcompany.com/91202176/a- ... rible-idea

Helene devastated portions of the Florida coast, mangled inland towns in Georgia, and caused Biblical flooding in the Carolinas that has been compared to an Appalachian version of Hurricane Katrina. In the desperate atmosphere that rushes in as every major storm dissipates, Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz took to Fox News to promote the bill he filed last year to require the federal government to backstop disaster insurance costs for high-risk states. Florida Politics reports:

“It would add no money to the deficit. It would allow states to buy bonds that when we have these 1 in 1,000 year storms would take that off of the plates of the insurance companies, which is driving up 25% of the cost on reinsurance,” Moskowitz said. “Even if my bill doesn’t move or go anywhere, I think the United States government and Congress has to start realizing that we have to amortize the risk.

“We have to spread this risk around,” he added. “It can’t just be on one state or two states to deal with this. Just like FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] spreads risk around when there’s a big disaster, FEMA comes in and helps local cities, counties, and the states recover, I think we’re going to have to do the same thing in the insurance market.”…

[japhy]

We could talk about how the money from FEMA is going to immigrants, but this might be a more important growed up discussion topic.

It is a devastating part of this tragedy. There are probably a lot of folks who will never financially recover from this.

Is solving this kind of issue the proper the role of government? Any solution proposed won't make everyone happy. It will be too much or too little.

In this case the free market has been left to decide so far. Is that OK?

In Buncombe County, N.C., where an entire town disappeared beneath floodwaters, less than 1 percent of households had flood insurance. In Unicoi County, Tenn., where dozens of residents were stranded atop a hospital roof as waters rose, it was under 2 percent.

On average, just a tiny fraction of households in the inland counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene had flood insurance, according to a Washington Post analysis of recent data from the National Flood Insurance Program. Across seven affected states, only 0.8 percent of homes in inland counties affected by the hurricane had flood insurance. By contrast, 21 percent of homes in coastal counties in those areas had coverage.

The Post estimated the share of homes with flood insurance by using policy counts as of Oct. 1 provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and housing unit counts from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Experts say that lack of insurance will prove deeply damaging for those households in the years to come. Available disaster assistance funds are largely intended to provide for temporary shelter, food and water — not to rebuild homes. And thanks to a combination of outdated policies and high prices, most people don’t know they should enroll in flood insurance — or can’t afford it.

Without insurance, people struck by floods have to rely on a network of complicated federal programs or aid from nonprofits to rebuild their lives. The Individual Assistance Program, run by FEMA, can help provide urgent resources, but is capped at around $42,500 for housing and $42,500 for other costs. Most recipients get far less. As of Thursday morning, FEMA listed 108 counties in five states where people are eligible for this aid.

“It’s something people don’t want to think about,” said Craig Landry, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Georgia, of the risk of catastrophic flooding. “People have an optimistic perception of disaster assistance,” he added. “And in reality, it’s not that generous.”

The Post’s analysis shows that many of the counties affected by Helene’s flooding have seen declining flood insurance rates in the past decade. In some cases, around half of flood insurance policies have been dropped.

Stephanie Buchanan, a resident of Bakersville, N.C., didn’t know she didn’t have flood insurance until her belongings had been swept away in rising creek waters. Buchanan and her husband fled out the back door and watched the water rise two feet up into her home, ruining furniture and dragging her possessions into the garage.

She called her homeowners’ insurance, only to learn that her policy didn’t cover floods. In Mitchell County, home to Bakersville, FEMA reported just 31 flood insurance policies for more than 8,600 housing units.

“Nobody said anything about it,” Buchanan said in a phone interview. The 47-year-old has lived in the Bakersville area her entire life and can’t remember any similar disasters. “I’ve never faced anything like this,” she said. “Is someone going to help us? Are we going to be able to have a home?”

The lion’s share of flood insurance in the United States comes through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. For homes that are in the 100-year-flood-plain, or that have a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding every year, this insurance is legally required to obtain a mortgage, and can pay out up to $250,000 for structures and $100,000 for contents.

But experts say that the flood maps used by the national program are outdated, leaving many areas that should have flood insurance without it.

“They don’t include flooding from small waterways, things like creeks, tributaries, streams,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at the First Street Foundation, which models climate risks. “And they don’t include heavy precipitation as a source for flooding.”

That means events like the surge of Hurricane Helene flooding that struck inland areas last week are almost entirely ignored — leaving residents to choose for themselves whether they want to buy private flood insurance or not.

Jess Dixon, 29, a mural artist in Sugar Grove, N.C., said in a phone interview Wednesday that she didn’t get flood insurance when she bought the single story brick home two years ago because the area hadn’t flooded in recent years.

“There is a river across street from me, but it had never risen anywhere close to this before,” she said. “Whenever I bought the house it was not considered a flood plain. It’s just so wildly expensive here that it just seems unnecessary. Not many people can afford it in this area — it’s kind of a low-income area.”
Stormwater rose a foot in 10 minutes, ultimately reaching four feet into Dixon’s attic crawl space. “I haven’t had time to call my insurance,” she said as she and her boyfriend gutted the house.

“I’m trying to figure out if FEMA will cover anything. My major focus has been trying to salvage as much as I could from the house,” she said.

Dixon has been staying with friends in nearby Blowing Rock, “hopping around” to make room for others displaced by the storm. “We have a tent set up in my backyard if worse comes to worse. We did just get power back today, but I’m scared to turn it on,” she said. “The mountains are just not built for flooding.”

Jeff Jackson, the interim senior executive of the National Flood Insurance Program, said in a statement, “Flood risk is under appreciated across the nation — even in flood prone areas. That’s a challenge we continue to face and will continue to work on as we remain committed to closing the flood insurance gap across the nation.”

“Right now, it’s important that survivors of Helene file their flood and or homeowners’ insurance claims immediately,” Jackson added. “I urge those who are uninsured to register for FEMA disaster assistance now.”

People may still end up rebuilding in flood-prone areas, Landry said, because the real estate market has a short memory. While housing prices often drop following major flood events — as buyers account for the cost of flood insurance — research shows that effect disappears after five or six years.

The assistance program from FEMA for individuals is “intentionally not designed to make people financially whole after a disaster,” said Carolyn Kousky, an expert in flood insurance and associate vice president for economics and policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group.

Most people tend to get only a few thousand dollars from individual assistance, she added.

Samantha Montano, a professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, says that survivors must navigate a web of complicated red tape to even get that amount of funding. Some disaster victims will submit five or six appeals after being denied the first time. “People will describe it as the second disaster, just because of how difficult it is to navigate,” she said.

While additional congressional funding can help close the gap, that funding can take years to be deployed. In the meantime, residents will be forced to wait in whatever temporary housing they can find.

Many experts say that the country needs to impose much more sweeping requirements for flood insurance. “Congress needs to require everybody to have flood insurance, much like we require everybody to have car insurance,” Montano said. “And in my opinion, they need to raise the amount of money FEMA is able to give people for individual assistance.”

For now though, as many areas of the country are pummeled by severe weather events, researchers say the insurance system is lagging behind. “I don’t think we’re appreciating how much flood risk is changing over time and how quickly,” Kousky said. “And we’re certainly not talking to people about it.”

We don't have flood insurance on any of our properties. I do check flood maps when looking at property. I am surprised some when I see a property that is not listed on a flood map when there is an obvious reason for concern.

Has there ever been a flooding on this property.

Realtor: Oh no, that is not a problem here.

But I can see standing here, that the entire parking lot of the church next door drains in this direction. And the owner of this property has dug a ditch across the backyard that would intercept that flow. They even built a small quaint footbridge across the ditch, what's that about?

Realtor: That's just attractive landscaping.

And these watermarks on the basement wall? And the lines that show mud came in this basement window?

A creek near your property with steep valley walls upstream is an obvious red flag. But there are more subtle localized issues that can be of concern as well, far removed from streams and waterways. A deluge rain can make those localized features into instant localized flood zones. If it looks like water flows to and sits next to the house, it probably does. If it doesn't cause flooding it may cause settlement or heaving of the foundations. You can have an inspector look at the house but they may have no idea oof any of this. They will flush the toilets and look at the electrical box. You are your own best advocate, trust your gut. If you go in a house, look at the basement first. If there are cracks in the foundation walls leave before looking at the lovely kitchen or the cozy breakfast nook. You can build those in the next house with the money you saved by not buying this one's problems.

Always buy property near the top of the hill. Always check to see what adjacencies slope towards your home. When in doubt walk away. When in doubt but didn't walk away, buy flood insurance.

[KUTradition]

back in the 90s there was a re-mapping of the Wakarusa flood plane for no other apparent reason than to open up more land for developers

[dolomite]

Oil rose more than 5% on Thursday over fears of supply disruptions stemming from an expected Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran.

Remarks from President Biden over the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil facilities helped push prices higher.

[Shirley]

Oil rose more than 5% on Thursday over fears of supply disruptions stemming from an expected Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran.

Remarks from President Biden over the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil facilities helped push prices higher.

Events will always overcome fundamentals. A story I almost posted yesterday:

Saudi minister said to warn of $50 oil as OPEC members flout production curbs
Oct. 02, 2024 6:35 PM ET

Strong early gains in crude oil futures eased in late trading Wednesday after a meeting of top OPEC+ ministers kept policy unchanged, including a plan to start raising production in December, bringing concerns over a market surplus back into focus.

Key OPEC+ members at an online gathering Wednesday reportedly agreed to ease production curbs, maintaining previously agreed plans for a 180K bbl/day increase in December as part of a gradual unwind of 2.2M bbl/day in voluntary cuts until November 2025.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration issued bearish data showing a 3.9M-barrel increase in domestic commercial crude inventories as well as substantially lower demand for the week ended Friday.

Oil had gained more than 3% on growing fears of an all-out war in the Middle East, with markets bracing for a potential Israeli response to Iran's missile attack yesterday...

OPEC refuted a Wall Street Journal report that said Saudi Arabia's oil minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warned fellow producers in a conference call that oil could drop as low as $50/bbl if cheaters in the group failed to comply with agreed production cuts.

The remarks were interpreted by other producers as a veiled threat that Saudi is willing to launch a price war to keep its market share if other countries do not abide by the group's agreements, according to the report, which cited delegates who were on the call.

The delegates reportedly said bin Salman singled out Iraq, which overproduced by 400K bbl/day in August, and Kazakhstan, whose production is set to increase with the return of the 720K bbl/day Tengiz field.

In response to the WSJ article, OPEC posted on X that the claims were "wholly inaccurate and misleading."

[KUTradition]

A new report reveals that a handful of wealthy countries, led by the United States, are spending billions on unproven climate technologies, according to the Guardian.

These nations have given nearly $30 billion in subsidies for carbon capture and fossil hydrogen over the past 40 years. The U.S. alone has spent $12 billion in taxpayer money, and dirty fuel giants hope to secure even more in the coming years.

not only are these relative bandaids (rather than sutures), but they don’t even appear to be able to stop the bleeding