The River House

Engineer Victoria and her husband, Kevin, purchased the house of their dreams on the Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida in 2016. Although the house was over forty years old, the couple happily endured various home repair and improvement projects knowing that the stunning beauty of the home's location was well worth any aggravation. Their blissful state of mind was shattered less than a year after they purchased the property when Hurricane Irma paid an unwelcome visit.

The hurricane's horrific damage to their beloved home was only the beginning of their agonies. The tense saga of dealing with a dysfunctional property insurance company was then superseded by the convoluted process for getting their house reconstructed to the current building code.

The cliffhanger ending is followed by lessons learned that are beneficial to anyone living in a hurricane-prone area.