Thank-you Limeyrider, for the concern about Hurricane Ian. The storm hit the west coast of Florida, the east coast wasn't affected by flooding or high-force winds like the area of Ft. Myers, Sanibel Island, Punta Gorda, Cape Coral (where our member Patmax lives), and other coastal communities. The concern is that areas in the middle of the state got lots of rain, and Arcadia, an inland community largely centered on citrus crops, had the Peace River overflow its banks. The river is normally 10 ft depth, and reached 24 ft before the flood waters from excess rain began to subside, it is still 20 ft depth. That is just one community, there are dozens more which have also been flooded, and which are dozens of miles from the Gulf of Mexico coast. Even Orlando was flooded in parts and that lies in the middle of the state, east-to-west.
Like Hurricane Katrina, which wrought devastation upon New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mississippi, Hurricane Ida was a large mass of a storm, and it was 'wet,' meaning it deposited an excess of rain during its passing. Te peninsula of FL is made mostly of limestone and sand, which allows good drainage, unlike the clay of Georgia in comparison. However, like a filled glass of water once the water fills the glass (or in the case of FL, the ground) any more water just spills over the rim of the glass, or overflows the banks of rivers, and encroaches from the Gulf of Mexico at the shoreline. Couple that with sustained winds of 125 mph and gusts to 150+ mph, and you see why stick-built houses and buildings and especially trailers are destroyed. The rising waters from the Gulf of Mexico floats vessels from their moorings/docks, and the wind pushes them inland, where they stack-up against whatever buildings are left standing. When you see a nice sunny day, and flood waters up to the roof eaves of the 1 story buildings and cars and trucks totally-submerged, with maybe their rooflines showing their locations, you understand the effect this storm has had on more-than 2-1/2 million people (the power utilities' number of people without power after the storm).
I suspect many people will take their insurance checks and relocate to another state. The renters, who probably don't have any insurance, will have to rely upon whatever federal aid is offered, and do the same. Their jobs are probably gone, and of course their homes and transportation are too.
I'd like to see salvage operations where the flood vehicles are seized and scrapped so they don't return to the used car market to plague unsuspecting buyers in another state when they are offered a 'low-miles Southern car.'
The Velocette, show us some pics, and regale us with stories of fixing her, places you've been, and whatever else would be of interest.