Hurricane Helene made landfall within the U.S. on September 26 close to Perry, Florida, with winds blowing at Class 4 energy, killing not less than 128 to this point. Lots of the tales we see give attention to a lot of the devastation in North Carolina the place folks dwelling in cities and cities a number of hours inland from the coast are nonetheless experiencing severe issues restoring energy and getting needed provides in. Florida might have anticipated the hurricane, however it nonetheless received wrecked, too, with Automotive Information reporting the hurricane destroyed practically 700 vehicles at a single Florida Kia dealership.
In line with Ken Ganley, proprietor of Ken Ganley Kia New Port Richey, floodwaters from the hurricane destroyed 660 new and used automobiles that it had on the lot, in addition to 12 buyer vehicles that had been in for repairs, bringing the full variety of totaled automobiles to 672. These aren’t his numbers, both. These are the numbers the insurance coverage adjusters gave him after they visited the dealership to judge the injury.
It’s troublesome to nail down the precise whole worth of the automobiles that had been totaled on the dealership, however Ganley informed AutoNews he estimates it’s between $28 million and $30 million. He gained’t get all of it again, although, as a result of with a roughly $5,000 deductible to pay on each single totaled automotive, he’ll doubtless find yourself spending $3.5 million simply in deductibles.
Ganley informed Auto Information that he lives in Ohio and first came upon that his Port Richey Kia dealership had misplaced energy on September 27. It was additionally beneath 4 toes of water in some locations, he was informed, and would doubtless lose each car on the lot, which he did. The one vehicles that reportedly survived had been ones that workers had been in a position to drive off-site. Energy got here again on the twenty eighth, and the dealership was in a position to reopen on the twenty ninth even when it barely had any vehicles left to promote. One of many dealership’s 4 buildings can now not be used, and cleanup efforts are nonetheless underway.
Don’t really feel too dangerous for Ganley, although. Ken Ganley Automotive Group operates greater than 50 dealerships and reportedly offered 40,872 vehicles in 2023. He’ll nonetheless be loaded even after paying a number of million {dollars} in deductibles. However it does assist put into perspective simply how lengthy it’s going to take to get well and rebuild from Helene.
