Strapping down your roof for a hurricane - photo

[ranald]

Frank the $ rules everything & the world is going mad. I'd have a colorbond steel roof anyday before, concrete or clay/terracotta tiles, shingles etc. About every 5 or 10 years it is just a matter of checking screws are tight due mainly from batten contraction & expansion. Insurance co.s here just keep raising premiums to cover any claims. We have a cottage at a beach (never been flooded) but within the same postcode (20 kilometres away) is a large country town that has been flooded, in parts, and the premiums go up every time there is a flood. Our premiums tripled in 3 years. Sadly the flooded ones aren't allowed to or offered to insure, so the insurance companies get it both ways. Then, for eligible claims, some companies say, "it wasn't a flood, it was rising water", or"surge" or "freak of nature" or "it was storm & tempest" or such like to avoid paying folk who have lost everything.

Some people have no idea bucause of where they used to live or their home/habitat. We see in Queensland, some homes built without soffits which is lunacy here due to our hot sun & wild storms. The soffits provide a degree of protection. Obviously designed by someone from Victoria or elsewhere. Thing is now they are experiencing extreme heat also, so haven't learnt.