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Fundora: When did you first realize that hurricane Andrew might hit Miami? Gonzalez: At the last moment. Fundora: What preparations did you make? Gonzalez: None at all. Fundora: None at all? Gonzalez: I just got any board that I found outside my house, and I sealed at least one window. At least I would have one room safe. That is about it. Fundora: What did you think it would be like before the storm? Gonzalez: I had no idea. Fundora: No idea? Gonzalez: I have never been through (a hurricane.) Fundora: You have never been through it before? Gonzalez: No. Fundora: So this was your first experience through one? Gonzalez: An excellent one. Fundora: Excellent one? Fundora: Why did you say excellent. Did you have a lot of difficulties? Gonzalez: No, but a lot of problems. Fundora: Where were you during the hurricane? Gonzalez: In my bedroom. Fundora: Who was with you during the hurricane? Gonzalez: My wife and a cousin. Fundora: What happened to you? What happened specifically? Gonzalez: Basically nothing. Fundora: Nothing? Gonzalez: A window broke, there was a shingle that broke the window and water started coming in. Luckily we had a piece of sheet rock and that is what we covered the window with. Basically that is all that happened to our house. Fundora: So there wasn't anything traumatic or anything like that. Fundora: What were your concerns or thoughts during the hurricane? Gonzalez: Survival. Fundora: What do you mean by survival? Gonzalez: If these houses would last through the hurricane. Fundora: About the structure of the house? Gonzalez: Exactly, about the structure of the house and then everything else basically, floods, nothing happened. Fundora: None of those things you anticipated happened? Gonzalez: Exactly. Fundora: What did you do right after the hurricane? Right after it happened. Gonzalez: Like right after. Well I went out to see if any neighbor of mine needed any help. Around us was an association and I went to ask if anyone needed any help and we each helped each other. Fundora: What was the first thing you thought about? Gonzalez: Fixing my house. Fundora: What was the first thing you actually did? Gonzalez: On the house? Fundora: Yes, on the house. Gonzalez: I called the insurance company. Fundora: You called your insurance company? Fundora: So, what was your first week like after the hurricane? Gonzalez: Terrible. No electricity. We did have phones. The curfews were terrible. No lights. It was a little bit of a struggle. Fundora: Did you stay here? Gonzalez: Yea, all the time. Fundora: Without electricity or water? Gonzalez: Yea, for seven days without no power. Fundora: Oh my God. Did you get a generator? Gonzalez: No. Fundora: Did you receive help after the hurricane? Did anyone help you? Gonzalez: Nobody. Fundora: But you did go out? Gonzalez: Yea, I went to West Palm Beach. I bought water and all the accessories. I bought an electrical light to have light in the house. I bought all the accessories I need after the hurricane. Fundora: After the hurricane? You went all the way to West Palm Beach? Gonzalez: Yes. Fundora: Did you help anyone else? Gonzalez: My next door neighbor. Every night he ate dinner at our house. We ate whatever the refrigerator cooler had. Fundora: What was left before the hurricane? Gonzalez: Right, before it spoiled, we ate it on our barbecue. Fundora: You had some stuff that you brought over from West Palm Beach? Gonzalez: Yes. Fundora: What kind of effect has Hurricane Andrew had on your daily life? Gonzalez: Great. Fundora: Okay we will go on to great effect. What do you mean by great? Gonzalez: Great remodeling on the house. We upgraded everything. Superb. What other effects? That's about it. Fundora: Okay so the things that you were able to remodel in the house, did you end up making a gain on it? Gonzalez: Yes of course. Everybody has. Fundora: Has the Hurricane significantly changed your plans for the future? In any way? Gonzalez: Yea, we are waiting for another hurricane. Fundora: Your waiting for another hurricane? Gonzalez: Basically, my plans for the future have stayed the same, but it has helped me financially. It helped me out that moment more. Fundora: When did you first realize that the hurricane was an opportunity for personal gain? Gonzalez: The next day. Fundora: After the next day? Fundora: You knew that was your opportunity? Gonzalez: My gain is a lot of people's losses, but still, I feel I gained a lot of it. A lot of people are hurt. I feel a lot of sympathy, but if I can make money, my gain is what I feel from the very first day. Fundora: How did you decide on what actions to take in order to get the maximum benefit from the hurricane. Gonzalez: Roof damages. Basically my roof had nothing. Fundora: Nothing was wrong with it? Gonzalez: Maybe 10 tiles. Fundora: Do you have shingles? Gonzalez: No, I have tiles. I broke more. Fundora: What did you break it with? Gonzalez: With more tiles. With a hammer. Fundora: So you just went up there. Did you do anything else besides the roof? Gonzalez: Dropped some trees on my wood deck. Fundora: You had to saw them? Gonzalez: My trees were cut before the hurricane. So I just line the trunk standing up, because they were damaging my roof before the that. Fundora: So they were already cut? Gonzalez: They were already cut. Fundora: You just gave them a little push? Gonzalez: I just gave them a better push and they fell right on top of the wood deck. Fundora: How did your family feel about these things that you did? Gonzalez: Nobody knows what I did. Fundora: I mean your immediate family. Your wife, anybody that was close to you that knows what you did. Gonzalez: Basically don't know. Nobody knows what I did. Fundora: No? Gonzalez: No. Gonzalez: They just know or feel that I got bargains doing everything else. Fundora: Bargains? Gonzalez: Like, lets say, they paid my whole roof, so what I did was not fix my whole roof and fixed whatever was broken, and it likes little deals, I saved money on everything else, it just that I claim more than what I really have. Fundora: Did she know about breaking the tile or anything like that? Gonzalez: No. Fundora: She didn't realize? Gonzalez: No. Fundora: Do you feel in anyway guilty about what you have done? Gonzalez: No. Fundora: No? Nobody knows about what you have done basically. Gonzalez: No. But I guess everybody else does the same thing. Fundora: How were your dealings with the insurance company? Gonzalez: They helped. Fundora: They helped? What do you mean by helped? Gonzalez: I think they're blind on somethings. I think the adjusters make more money on the claims that they write, they make a percentage, I guess, on how much damage your house has. Fundora: You mean the higher the damage... Gonzalez: They get a percentage. They get more money on it. That's what my adjuster said. Like I claimed things that were broken, and he knew it, but he still paid for it, so he is more at fault than I am. Right. So I guess everybody is making a profit here. Fundora: What were the final results. Like what benefits did you get out of all this, the claims you made? Gonzalez: What benefits? Fundora: Like the remodeling you did. What specifically were you able to get? Gonzalez: I have upgraded doors that cost maybe $500 for $3000 doors. It's just basically I only had like $2000 damages and I got like $25,000 worth of money. So after that, I just did a whole new kitchen which I didn't need. I threw all my money....A lot of people really save the money. I didn't. I used all my money to upgrade my house. Those are my benefits. Fundora: Okay. Do you feel good about getting away with it? Gonzalez: Well if I get away with it, the insurance adjusters do it too. Because they are writing it up for no reason. They are paying for a whole roof which they know for a $1000 they can fix, so they are just as much to blame as I am. Fundora: Are you afraid of getting caught, or do you think you are beyond that? Gonzalez: Well, no one is beyond getting caught. I just feel that some other people are doing worse than what I am. I didn't get as much as a lot of people are. Fundora: So you feel it is pretty much over? Right now you got the claims, everything is over, it is pretty much over? Gonzalez: For me it is. I don't think their auditing. Fundora: Okay. What do you think of some people, I know a lot of people did the same thing, but the people who had the same opportunity and didn't take advantage of it? Gonzalez: A lot of people, for instance I got friends that say, I am not claiming nothing, because my insurance will go up. I think it will go up for everybody. They're going to go up on people who claimed and who didn't claim. I think their dumb because they have been paying for a long time all their life, and this is an opportunity to upgrade or help a lot of poor people who didn't have enough money to upgrade their house. Fundora: Do you know a lot of people who did the same thing? Gonzalez: Yes. Fundora: Are you glad that the hurricane occurred? Gonzalez: No, because a lot of people got hurt. But I am glad in my situation that I am okay and my family is okay. I got something out of it. Fundora: Has your perception of the world changed as a result of the experience with the hurricane? Gonzalez: In what way? I don't understand. Fundora: Any way. In your life, or anything, has anything changed; your experience? Gonzalez: Just that I will be prepared better next time. I don't know about next time if I will take as much advantage on the insurance, but I will be better prepared for my family sake, not mine. I saw the damage that it did. Fundora: Is there anything you would like to tell me that I haven't asked you? Gonzalez: No, not really. Fundora: No? Okay, thank you very much. Gonzalez: Your welcome. |
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