If you were affected, how is your community doing?

I've felt the effect down here. It's caused an increase in business . There are many people down here that had homes affected and were fortunate to have another house in Florida.

I spoke with one couple who were actually pretty happy with Sandy even though it destroyed their home in New Jersey. They said that their home value was depressed below their mortgage loan amount and they were required to have flood insurance and household insurance in the value of the loan. Now they have no house but they are out from under their mortgage. In the current market, they could now buy a house with the same amenities for less money. They considered it a silver lining to a dark storm.



fltsfshr

 

It's ironic that the term for value less than the loan amount is "under water." Our area was not much affected by the storm. The +1's parents' town was, however - Little Ferry, NJ. His mother is still wrangling with her insurance company over payment for her flooded car, which was totalled. He would like her to move to our insurance company, but she is loyal to hers for whatever reason. The result is that she will probably pay more for a replacement.

 

It might be derived from the expression drowning in debt and can't keep their head above water.
Hence it is under water.