Hurricane Ian winners and losers

 

I've been making a list of some of the winners and losers of Hurricane Ian based on my personal experience and observation.  Opinions may differ, but honestly this isn't about your opinion, it's about mine.  Make your own list of ya don't like it:

Loser: Verizon. 

Verizon immediately got busy doing an assload of nothing.  No service for days, yet the only calls I was getting were about my cars warranty. I wish I was making this up.

Winner: TMobile. 

The day after the storm, we passed 3 semis loaded with TMobile generators.  This was verified with a contractor who told me that a week in, he was still servicing all the TMobile equipment, and crickets from the other carriers.

Loser:  Starlink. 

Numerous unaddressed reports of equipment failure after the storm. Paying customers without internet, meanwhile, Starlink donating hundreds of systems to "help patch network holes" obviously created by Verizon, for people who don't pay for it. Starlink had a golden opportunity here to shine as the company that made a terrible situation a little better. Instead they came through as the company that only cares about the perception of their image, and not an iota about their costumers.

Winner: FPL. 

Talk about having your shit together.  They anticipate having almost all power back on by the two week mark.  Amazing. I could go on and on about this, but one only needs to flip a light switch to understand. I'm never gonna bitch about my power bill again.

Loser: Allegiant/Sunseeker. 

The Sunseeker resort under construction at the base of the 41 bridge had 2 massive cranes collapse onto US41.  The wreckage blocked one of the two main arteries for relief support for days.  Once again, through a complete lack of foresight, Allegiant proves itself to be a terrible neighbor.

Winner: Wayne Sallade. 

The long retired EOC director from Charlotte County tirelessly disseminating information from his home in Colorado keeping thousands informed, because:

Loser: Charlotte County EOC. 

Is there even an information department? Who works there? What do they do all day? Why do they rely on retired employees to do their job? One has to actively seek out information to find what Charlotte County is trying to convey, and usually, you find it on Waynes page.

Winner: Governor Ron Desantis.

 Boots on the ground within hours.  Doing his job and getting shit done right now. He came in and cooked breakfast for law enforcement at the Awful House. He may be a butthole, but he's a butthole who went to work this morning.

Loser: President Joe Biden. 

Since Ian Joe Biden has managed to hand 600 million dollars to Ukraine---and not much else. Joe came in and cooked meth for Hunter. Shows up a week after the storm, "declares: "We aren't leaving." Hell man, you gotta show up before you can leave.

Winner: Home Depot. 

Open the day after the storm. Generators and propane at the ready.   Already had a game plan.  Already had hired security in place.  All ready to help.

Loser CenturyLink. 

If CenturyLink was a horse, you would have no choice but to put a bullet in it's head for being lame. 

Winner: Publix.

  Also open within 48 hours and a convoy of trucks headed south to restock provisions.  They even had PubSubs.  A welcome taste of normalcy in a hellscape of nightmares.

Loser: Unprepared Insurance Carriers

Insurance carriers who have so few adjusters that people have to sit on their debris pile for weeks waiting for these idiots to decide to show up.  There's zero excuse why insurance carriers don't have a plan in place for this.  You people are the devil.

Winner: WaWa.

Open, and pumping gas with 24 hours.  This was a company with a plan in place, and they executed it brilliantly.

Loser: Lookie loos.

Rubberneck asshats are making 10 minute tasks turn into hours long tasks. Do us all a favor and go back to pulling the wings off of flies for entertainment.

Winner: Amazon.

I ordered an electrical meter that I needed for repairs, I didn't expect to see it for weeks. It showed up within 48 hours. I hope Jeff Bezos is reading this, because your employees aren't paid nearly enough for what they do.

Loser: Lying contractors. 

If you can't come, don't tell me you will.  I have a mountain of shit to do, and wasting 5 hours waiting for another no show just makes me pray that you get butt cancer.

Winner: Volunteers. 

God bless the people from ALL 50 of the United States. who rushed in to help everyone without blinking.  The assistance y'all provided is immeasurable.

Loser: Social Media shadow bans. 

I'm looking at you Farcebook.  When people can finally get onto a social media platform and ask for assistance, and their request is throttled to the point where no one sees it, all because of their political beliefs... There's a special place in hell for Fascists like you. 

Winner: Swamp Coolers.

  If you don't have one, you won't understand.  But this bad boy saved our sanity.  Best frivolous purchase I've made this year.

Loser: The "I'm not evacuating" Crowd. 

Congratulations, now YOU are the problem.  Countless man hours spent rescuing the ignorant from their own homes that could be spent on actual recovery efforts.  Way to go Florida Man, you did it again.

Chicken Dinner: Selfless Neighbors. 

I've lost count of the super human deeds I've already seen with people helping their neighbors.  People sacrificing their own supplies, time, money and energy to help their more stricken friends. I'm looking at you Cleveland... Well most of ya.  Give yourselves a round of applause.