Has anyone had success obtaining an after-the-fact letter or certification from a licensed engineer for an above-ground safe room so it would qualify for the tax credit?

My contractor built the shelter to FEMA requirements, but we did not realize that sealed engineering plans were required until after it was completed.

If you've been through this process, I'd appreciate hearing about your experience. Thanks!

I’m an outsider visiting Alabama, and I happen to be in the Gulf region with a tropical storm developing right off the coast. I figured this would be a chance to watch large waves hitting the beaches. For those more familiar with the Gulf and how tropical storms affect the region, what can I expect conditions to be like on Tuesday? Should I prepare to be awed or disappointed? What are recommended vantage points? How likely will the ferry between Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan operate? Will the waves be most impressive on Tuesday or later?

Attention Phenix City, Eufaula, and all Downstream Towns:
A massive $5+ Billion, 865-acre hyperscale data center called "Project Ruby" is trying to build right on the river banks in Columbus, GA.

Why this is YOUR fight too:

• 💧 Your Drinking Water: These facilities can consume millions of gallons of water. If they drain the river up here, it lowers the water table and dries out the river flow for Alabama and Florida.
• 🌡️ Thermal Pollution: Returning heated wastewater into the river triggers toxic algae blooms, ruining fishing, boating, and the Phenix City Riverwalk.
• ⚡ Your Power Bill: The electrical grid is shared. Massive tech companies straining the regional grid means regular homeowners across the valley face higher bills and grid instability.

Don't let a Georgia council risk Alabama's water.
Join the unified front. We need every downstream neighbor standing with us to crush this project before it's too late.

👉 Follow: Keep It Rural Muscogee County & Stop Hyperscale Data Centers in Muscogee County on Facebook.
👉 Action: Pack the Columbus City Council Meeting on Tuesday, July 28th at 5:30 PM (3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA).

EDIT: Look, I owe everyone here a massive apology. I used AI to write my original post because I was rushing to spread the word about Project Ruby, and it ended up looking like corporate spam. The irony of using an AI program to write a protest letter against a multi-billion dollar AI data center is incredibly embarrassing, and I feel like an idiot.
I am a worried neighbor, not a bot or a slick PR person. I genuinely care about what this project could do to our water table, our power bills, and our downstream neighbors. I messed up the delivery big time, but the threat is still real.
If you can look past my lazy mistake, the fact remains that the Columbus City Council meeting is on Tuesday, July 28th at 5:30 PM (3111 Citizens Way). If you care about keeping our area rural and protecting the river, please consider showing up or looking into the "Keep It Rural Muscogee County" group. Again, I am truly sorry for the fake-sounding post. Lesson learned.

Does anybody work at the Mercedes-Benz, or has anybody ever worked there before, in the past? The reason that I ask, is because I'm a current postal worker who just came up on my 5th anniversary & just a few days ago, I got an offer to do both a physical interview along with the hands-on training by next week. With that being said, I'm kind of fearful that it may be too physically intensive because of what others have said. Btw, I'll be doing the training on behalf of AIDT.

South near Mississippi to be specific. What are good places to see or good things to do?

Hey y'all. I’m pretty used to standard tropical depressions and I’ve been through a Florida tornado, but I spend a lot of time on the Alabama coast (Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area) and want to get my hurricane game plan locked down.
If a storm blows up in the Gulf and takes a direct shot at the Island, where do the locals actually run to? Do you go up to Foley/Crestview, head straight up to Montgomery/Birmingham, or cut west to Mobile?
Also, what is the traffic reality on Highway 59 and the Beach Express when a mandatory order drops? Give me the unvarnished local truth so I don't end up stuck on a bridge or stranded in a parking lot. Thanks!

I have plans on moving to Birmingham, Alabama, in a year, and I'm trying to get an exact idea of how much It'll cost to maintain a living there. As someone moving alone, what would y'all say it would cost monthly, total, to live in Alabama?

I am new to reddit... and would appreicated some comments regarding Montgomery AL..

Me and my husband are moving to Montgomery AL..
My husband got his job there--one of the automobile Korean company.
I grew up in California and Boston, so I am familiar with US in general, but from outside view.. Alabama sounds like a pretty racist and... boring state..

Also some people kept saying crime rates is really high but is it because its just city in general or is it like actually dangerous?

We were thinking of getting an apartment in the suburbs... any recommendations on good places..?

For anyone unaware, it's being revealed that local municipalities across the country have been secretly signing corporate contracts worth millions to this... Flock camera company. Groups of cameras working together to track where we are and times. It records and places into a data base your car, your tag number, your face and anyone in the car with you with timestamps which is then uploaded to CORPORATE servers... NOT government ones. But is there a difference?

I want every Alabama citizen to be aware of this... So we can get them out of our state. And kick local politicians to the curb. More selling us out for a buck.

Back in 2015 I was driving out in the woods around Hayden at 0100 after leaving a coworker’s pyramid scheme party for Limu or something that I never should have agreed to go to in the first place.

So I’m driving carefully because another coworker has already hit three deer around here and I like my Tacoma. So while paying close attention I notice some lights in space that are blinking.

I’m an astronomy buff and at any time of year can tell you the more significant stars visible given the time of night. What I see look like Capella twinkling, but there’s two and they’re way too close together. Genuinely curious I open up my star walk app and pull over next to a gated field. The next time I look up I see them moving, and at a speed that makes me think they’re very close.

I watch the two lights and a few seconds later they get lower and lower. I freak out because when they get below the tree line at the back of the opposite field I realize they’re much closer than I thought AND they stop moving. Almost like they’re kids playing hide and seek with me. And like they know I’m there. I remember feeling SO CONFIDENT that they were aware of me. I don’t know why I felt that, but it wasn’t, “I hope they don’t see me.” I KNEW they were watching me.

I remember immediately getting back in my truck, putting my Glock under my left thigh and fumbling with the keys while keeping my eyes on the lights.

I don’t remember anything else from that night.

I awoke the next day, my truck parked way further up in the yard than i normally park and crooked as hell. I hadn’t come in on the driveway but through the shallow ditch.

I would have NEVER parked it like that.

My Glock was in the backseat, where it would NEVER be.

And I couldn’t find my pants or shoes. I was asleep in the clothes I was wearing that night, including socks. But my pants and shoes were NOWHERE to be found. I had 100% walked in the house like that. How did I know? Because my socks were wet and dirty when I thought to check them.

And what super freaked me out was that I could see on the carpet where I had walked in circles who knows how many times in the living room around the damn coffee table.

Imagining me walking those circles and not remembering doing it still freaks me out when I think about it.

Anyone else?

Downtown Montgomery has been a surprisingly amazing experience as a black American. I highly recommended taking time out to take in Commerce Street and Dexter Avenue. Soak in as much history as possible. The first and only confederate White House, the state capital MLK marched from Selma to, even the the main slave trading avenue’s, down to the riverfront. Great coffee at the Prevail Union.