RECOVERING FROM HURRICANE CHARLIE: A PROVEN STRATEGY

By Judy Jaastad

How do you deal with a catastrophic disaster to property you own thousands of miles away from your home? In 2004, beginning with Hurricane Charlie that struck Sanibel Island, Florida, and ending a month and three hurricanes later with Ivan, I, living in Des Moines, Iowa, was faced with just such a crisis for my two rental condos.

Through phoned reports and internet news checks, the magnitude of the problem slowly unfolded. One month in Florida humidity without a roof left my condos open to the forces of nature. And in Florida, those forces begin with rain, which, without electricity and air conditioning, becomes an amazing palette of mold. Everywhere. Thick enough to penetrate sheetrock. To sink into anything soft and absorbent - that would be furniture and draperies. And paintings, original art created by my husband.

The Macro: condo complex and the property
In the latter, I was fortunate. Once access to Sanibel Island was allowed, the staff of Ocean's Reach took it upon themselves to power through every unit, removing and bubble wrapping every undamaged piece of art, along with 'hard' furniture, transporting everything to dry storage on the mainland.

For the former, I was also fortunate. Our condo association hired a disaster reconstruction company who showed up almost immediately and set forth a plan for recovery. They quickly made the decision to take every condo down to the studs, then apply an anti-mold treatment to the concrete and metal remaining. Then the rebuild could begin.

With the structural elements of the rebuild handled, I could focus on the part for which I was totally responsible: everything from the paint skin, in. Furniture. Fixtures. Counter tops. Appliances. Window treatments. Paint colors. Where to begin?

The Micro: my place
The original design for these condos was pretty simple and over the years, individual owners had made some structural changes that I envied. As long as destruction was being paid for by Association insurance, I decided to invest in some interior redesign. I moved a few walls to enlarge the master bath, had a desk created where a cupboard had been and knocked down a wall to open up the kitchen.

Because this would be a one-time opportunity to start from scratch, I didn't want to mess things up. I contacted an interior designer in Des Moines and we made a plan. I'd make decisions I was comfortable with - furniture selection, for example - then consult with him for color coordination, accessories, and anything else I was unsure of. That way, I'd only pay for his services and expertise where I truly needed it. That plan also made me comfortable buying as much of his time as was necessary.

As, weeks devoted to destruction passed, I thought about how many other south Florida condos and homes had been hit, heard reports of construction materials shortages began rolling in, and my anxiety kicked in. Would all the furniture stock in the area be sold out? Not wanting to take that chance, I made the decision to fly to Florida sooner for the purpose of picking out two complete condos of furniture. And I decided to select everything from one store whose wares I had purchased in the past and whose prices were in a range where I was comfortable. I know that other owners selected other stores and in some cases, used their decorators' talent. But I was comfortable with the 'eye' of my guy at home especially because I know he'd done long distance consulting for other clients.

NINE STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Macro: The Association

1. Keep up with the construction schedule; this maximizes progress. Ocean's Reach has a wonderful, family-like culture and, as communications from the Board of Directors built on that closeness, it was easy to fit into the pattern. The Association contractor published several decision deadlines so the tradespeople could continue an efficient work schedule. Unfortunately, some owners either didn't make prompt decision or second guessed themselves and changed their minds after work had been done. Worst case, they didn't know what they wanted so made no decisions, putting the project behind schedule. I did not find it difficult to meet contractor deadlines.

2. Don't even think about keeping old appliances. Ranges, refrigerators and microwaves that sat around in the damp acquired mold on interior parts you'd never see. Water-connected items like dishwashers and washer/dryer units had seals which the appliance people insisted would not have dried out by the time they could be reinstalled. Ditto toilets. I replaced everything. A few owners did not and a few problems arose when those units came on line - for the owners as well as the people living below them.

3. Check with the construction people before having furniture delivered. We happened to be on site when the office received a call. A semiload of furniture from High Point, N.C., was on the other side of the causeway. The first problem was, the truck was too heavy for current weight restrictions. The second, the unit wasn't finished. The staff got into trucks and personally solved the first problem, while space was created in the on-site PODs for the furniture. A complication neither the construction crew nor the staff needed.

Micro: My place

4. Call your insurance adjustor. My agent connected me with my adjustor immediately and I was fortunate that the company acted promptly. Some owners had trouble finding their adjustor, getting them on site, and then getting a determination. I received my money in a fairly prompt time frame. A year later, some owners were still looking for checks.

5. Document everything: I made a digital photo record of every piece of furniture I bought. It was surprisingly easy to let my imagination go as I wandered the store selecting sofas, headboards, dining tables, chairs. The digital photos let me show my selections to my designer and get his OK. And to select matching paint and window treatments gong forward.

A second benefit of this plan was that I created a photo reference sheet of furniture selections for each condo which I used back home to select the accessories, bed spreads, and, with the help of my decorator, paint colors. (I'm a minimalist, white paint person and knew I had to use color now). Those photos proved invaluable as I assembled the condos, virtually, if you will. Never saw it altogether until 18 months later at installation and I was completely satisfied.

I also found a neat club chair in Des Moines. Again, using the digital photos for reference, I selected color from their swatches then ordered it to be drop shipped six months hence to a warehouse in Florida. When the time came to install, I made arrangements by phone with a moving company. I met them at the warehouse for chair pick-up, they we swung by the dry storage for the paintings, and delivered everything to my condo, all in a morning's work.

I also created Excel spreadsheets of costs as construction proceeded - separate sheets for each condo. This not only let me know what I was spending, it will provide a valuable reference for insurance purposes going forward. And my accountant was pretty happy to have the detail, too.

6. Start way ahead We were initially told we'd be up in six months, but it was more like 14, as things turned out. I avoided a last minute rush for furnishings and, I believe the focus of a one week time frame kept me immersed in the look and feel of what I was creating. The furniture store was willing to take a deposit for my order and let me pay the rest when we scheduled delivery. We both were comfortable with cash flow arrangements on both ends of the transaction.

7. Hire a decorator who doesn't have an ego.

Our arrangement was simple: I'd make the decisions I was confident in, but I would pay his hourly rate for advice when I needed it. This first paid off when I found a bed spread in Des Moiones that I thought would work with some painted furniture but wasn't sure. I used about 90 minutes of his time to check out that spread (SteinMart) and look at others (Bed, Bath & Beyond, KMart). Once we had the spreads in the trunk of my car and the photos of the living room furniture, we stood in the BBY parking lot and flipped through paint swatches for the brand the Florida painters would use and he made color choices.

I used him for advice about crown molding and bullnose corners - anywhere that I felt I didn't have the larger credentials to make a "decorator" decision. I also asked about some technical elements in areas where I wasn't sure about functionality.

8. Fill in with on-line purchasing.

Again, the photo sheets came in handy.When I couldn't find spreads and accent pillows locally, I went on line to Target, Crate & Barrel and other sources and finally found all the pieces to complete the look. They delivered small pieces to Florida where they were stored until installation. I even found an item in my local Pier One, called the nearest Florida store which let me purchase it for pick up two months later.

9. Really utilizing the decorator!

I wanted lighting that would be designer but not cost a fortune and I didn't want to squander time wandering around Ft. Myers, FL, a large metropolitan area where I didn't know whose lighting was what. My decorator and I went to a Des Moines lighting store and made most of our selections there. The shop was willing to order and warehouse everything, then ship them to Florida at the appropriate time.

When time came to install, I finally spent real money flying the decorator to Florida to create unique paint treatments, make accessory selections and hang pictures artistically. He even helped with the heavy lifting.

While no one wants to experience a disaster such as the one I confronted, a plan like this makes it successful recovery possible.

Copyright 2006 - Judith A. Jaastad. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reprints of this article may not be edited.