With credit card debt at record heights and many people struggling to pay monthly expenses, the forecast of a very busy hurricane season has a lot of people worried if they can afford to evacuate or recover from a storm.
WWL listeners texted the radio station expressing their fears.
"I live paycheck to paycheck. My wife can't work. She has medical conditions (if a) hurricane comes, I'm stuck," one person professed.
Another said, "We are swimming in debt from Covid and just can't catch up."
Others say they just have no savings or extra money for anything amid the recent inflation and the cost of just about everything going up.
"I've made cuts, planted a garden and sent my wife back in the workforce, but sadly it's still hard to keep my head above water. A hurricane hit may force me to dip into my retirement."
Mark Rosa is the President and CEO of Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union.
He says not only is credit card debt the deepest ever, but he as never seen so many people taking money out of retirement accounts to pay for things now, instead of saving it for retirement.
"I've seen more withdrawal requests from 401k's in the past year, than in my entire career. This is my 40th year in banking. I've never see anything like it," Rosa told WWL First News. "I've never seen so many of them."
He says with the cost of food, housing, insurance and so much more going... a lot of people don't have enough income to pay their bills.
"Many of the consumers are maxed out, they are having the toughest time."
Meanwhile MarketWatch says we are in deeper debt than ever before, "U.S. household debt reached a record high of $17.3 trillion, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."
Americans' credit card debt alone this year hit a record $1.13 trillion, up $50 billion.
Rosa says an evacuation is just not an expense most people have in the budget.
"You are basically taking a trip that you don't want to take, but a trip none the less."
If a hurricane hits, you also have the cost of repairs, insurance deductibles and so much more.
One listener's text said, "Ida wiped out my savings to get my family back in the house. Starting from scratch at age 60."
Rosa says a hurricane evacuation is when you have to dip into your "rainy day fund" or take on more credit card debt, as Mother Nature gives you no choice.
