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Last week as Hurricane Beryl approached our Texas storage unit, the company notified us that the office would be closed until further notice, a sensible precaution to let staff stay home to ride out the storm.
Beryl came through on July 8. The office is still closed, with apparently no one working from home. The area has also been without power since the storm, which means that our climate controlled unit is, well – not.
So, we’re getting a little concerned about some of our belongings in the heat and humidity of the season. Meanwhile, we’re out of the country with no plans to be back until 2025.
We gave a call to our insurance company to let them know the situation and check our options. It turns out while we have very good renters insurance, there are significant limitations on what it will cover in a storage unit. That’s a bummer. Because we’re nomadic, the storage unit contains almost everything we own.
Once power is on, we may ask a friend to go over and do a look and smell test. We’re getting prepared in our minds for that to fail or be inconclusive and for at least one of us to have to go back and see what’s what. We figure if there’s a potential humidity/mold problem emerging, it may be better to scuttle our plans and deal with it now rather than after several months.
There will hopefully be a sequel to this post in a week or two saying everything seems fine and our life continues as planned. Or, there will be a sequel on dealing with the damage. Meanwhile, while concerned, we’re very aware that we’re only worrying about belongings, not our home or our personal health and safety, as so many there are.
Update: power at our facility is back on. Management has done a walk through and sees no apparent damage; customers who’ve been in their units today have said they’re fine. Thankful for the good news. On to the rest of the season…
We live in Houston, and just got power back last evening. Our house escaped unscathed. Although our fridge and freezer are a few hundred dollars lighter! Nothing like no AC in hot humid weather. After 5 days, we certainly did not pass the smell test 😉. Hope to write a post about it in the coming weeks.
Glad you came through okay
Michael, CenterPoint is now saying that 85% of impacted customers will have power restored by Sunday: CenterPoint now expects 85% of impacted customers to have power restored by end of weekend (click2houston.com)
Hopefully your storage unit will be among that group.
Thanks Andrew. Their map shows projected restoration dates for various areas, from yesterday through July 19. Ours shows “restoration date pending review.” Not sure if that’s good or bad but hoping for the best. Sure they’re working hard on it.
Michael – I hope all is well with your stuff. We endured the inland impact of Hurricane Fran in Raleigh, NC in 1996. My neighborhood had no power for over a week. There were so many trees down that we couldn’t leave the neighborhood for 3 or 4 days. We had a well for water, so that was out. We had a private septic system in the back yard, but after the storm rolled through, there was standing water so that was unusable (if we had water to flush with). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Fran
That said, it was hot, humid, nasty weather for a week. We lived in a ranch-style home with a full basement, so there were plenty of opportunities for mold and mildew to take hold – but it didn’t. I hope the same works for you.
Thanks Jeff. That sounds like a real ordeal. Glad it turned out okay. Thanks for the positive thinking.
Good luck Michael. Hurricanes are scary. We bought our first beach home 8 months before Sandy came through. Luckily our home is on the highest part of the island and we were fine. Goods friends a mile away lost everything. There can be the loss of stuff, great expense, lots of hassle, and at least a level of heartbreak. Insurance can help rebuild – our friend’s house is significantly upgraded from the previous version. But there is always the concern of when will the next one hit.
Thanks Rick. After our first year there we got tired of losing power and got a whole house generator. Ironically, after we did the grid got better and it hardly had reason to run. That is, until Hurricane Harvey, when it ran nonstop for days, and we had flood water in the yard, though not the house. You’re right, there’s always the next one. We’re thankful to have always come out okay.
Best of luck Michael. Looking forward to a follow-up.
Thanks Dan
Though I obviously can’t know for sure, like Jonathan I think all will be well. I’ve lived in the South for 62 years, including hot, humid Florida for 35 of those. Unless there was actual water inside the unit, I think your things are fine.
Thanks Ed. Depending on how water got in there, I’m not sure we’d know until we emptied it. But hopefully not. Appreciate your and Jonathan’s positive thinking.
Last year, when we remodeled our kitchen, the back of our home was effectively open to the elements for perhaps 10 weeks. It’s a long story, but the cause was structural issues, coupled with problems getting permits approved. We had stored everything of value — notably art work — in our bedroom, where temperatures were soon in their 80s and humidity was off the charts. After a few weeks of this, I became sufficiently concerned that I bought a cheap window AC unit and installed it in the bedroom. When we moved back in and unpacked everything, all our possessions were fine. While Texas heat and humidity may be far worse, I’m guessing your stuff will be okay.
Thanks Jonathan. I guarantee Houston’s heat and humidity are worse than Philly! But we haven’t been without AC for weeks, at least not yet. We would have been worried in that situation as well. Glad your art came through okay. That’s part of the minority of stuff we actually care about and can’t replace.