it was a wake-up call as to how easily and quickly societal break-down could happen. another catastrophic weather event, power grids going down for two weeks, political turmoil, ect... it made me more conscious of the need to be prepared to be able to take care of yourself for at least a couple weeks, should something bad ever happen weather or other-wise. guns & ammo, storable food, water purifier and generator. have a plan with your family or friends.
Just watched a great documentary of the happenings and stories of Harvey on PBS. People are amazing. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/harvey/stories-from-the-storm/
I'm just now doing my 2017 income taxes. I think I've got the casualty stuff worked out from getting flooded -- basically . But, I have been told that you can write off the delta if the value of your home dropped. I assumed turbotax would ask me the right questions and spit out the right answer, but it doesn't seem to. I've monkeyed around a bit with the answers to the Harvey questions and can't seem to get credit for market value losses. So, (a) is this a thing, that I can deduct market value losses? I've found news sources that say I can. And (b) if I can do it, how do I do it?
They canceled school and houses are flooding down in Texas City today. Apparently a lot of the local drainage is still damaged from Hurricane Harvey- tons of junk in the drainage system so water backs up more than it used to. Only one way to clean them pipes. Get in there, JJ.
Allison was a massive flood event...But Allison dropped about 40% of what Harvey did. Harvey was an event that meteorologists are still calling unprecedented. There was no historical precedent for a Cat 4 hurricane making landfall and then hitting the brakes and sitting there, right off the coast so it could still feed itself with more moisture, for 3-4 days. Again, I'm not suggesting we don't need smarter growth...we do and I said as much. But there is no city in America that wouldn't be dealing with the exact same issues if they had 51 inches of rain dropped on them in that short of a time.
its a start... https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/...ging-may-start-Friday-Army-Corps-13221158.php San Jacinto River dredging may start Friday, Army Corps says fficials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are hoping dredging will begin in the San Jacinto River’s West Fork by Friday, Sept. 14. “Due to the installation of critical components that were needed to make one of the two dredges operational, along with and weather delays, dredging may begin Friday,” said Corps officials in a public statement. “Weather conditions could cause further delays but we are committed to make sure dredges are fully operational and can operate in a safe environment.” FECAL MATTER: How The West Fork Watershed Partnership plans to reduce pollution of the San Jacinto River Contractors began assembling the dredging pipeline in the West Fork of the San Jacinto River in late July. The $69.8 million FEMA-funded contract, awarded to Great Lakes Dredge, shows the dredging is expected to last until mid-April 2019, with clean-up and equipment removal to be complete by May 2019. “The intent of this FEMA mission assignment is to restore the flows of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River to pre-Harvey flows and temporarily reduce the risk of flooding,” said Eddie Irigoyen, project manager with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which is heading-up the dredging project. The job runs about 2.7 miles along the West Fork and involves 2 dredges. PAST COVERAGE: Why sandbar removal is key Dredge 1 covers the eastern section of the project. It begins about a quarter-mile west of West Lake Houston Parkway. Contractors will work their way eastward, dredging about 1.2 miles of the West Fork. Dredge 1 will end about a half-mile east of West Lake Houston Parkway. Dredge 2, encompassing the project’s western portion, begins south of East End Park and moves eastward on the river for about 1.5 miles until it meets up with the start location of Dredge 1, just west of West Lake Houston Parkway. The dredging project is expected to remove nearly 2 million cubic yards of shoal material, which will be deposited at a site west of Hwy. 59, south of Kingwood Drive; and a site east of Hwy. 59, south of the San Jacinto River.
nah - more like a "wow it really wouldnt take much for society to break-down and turn into a walking dead (without the zombies) type scenario so maybe it would be a good idea to be prepared" post.
The amateur psychologist in me noticed the first supply you wrote was guns & ammo, ahead of water, food, etc. Maybe i'm overanalyzing. Anyways let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Usually, the lesser of the basis in the property damaged, or the loss in FMV of the property (FMV of property before the storm minus FMV of property after the storm). The amount you take as a deduction on Schedule A is reduced by any insurance proceeds and/or reimbursement funds.
That's a little accountanty, so in plain English are you saying: I can claim the cost of the damage above and beyond any insurance payout, or I can claim the decline in the property value, whichever is less. Is that right? So to make up some numbers to describe my case. If I flood and get paid $100k from insurance, but then fix everything for $70k. HCAD estimates the reduction of my market value to be $90k. Therefore, I get... no benefit? The basis of the property damaged is less than zero because I had a gain on the insurance settlement and repair. I suffered a loss on fair market value, but it is the greater of the two measures, so it doesn't count. Is that right? Oh, and are you a tax accountant or did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night? Either way is good; just wondering.
i was going to 'like' this but then i saw that your name is 'the hunted' and you have 666 likes, which is pretty f*** metal...id hate to ruin that.
