For over a week now, Okeechobee residents have watched as car carrier after car carrier drives through town loaded with vehicles.
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“Where are they going? Where did they come from? What are they doing with all those cars?” ask residents.
The answer to the first question is easy. The vehicles are going to a company called Copart located on Northwest 16th Boulevard behind the Okeechobee Civic Center.
The answer to the second question is also easy. They came from the west coast. These vehicles were all damaged in some way by Hurricane Ian.
According to their website, Copart is an online auction site. Copart sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, car dealerships and the general public and more. One employee said they have contracts with just about every insurance agency in the country.
Once the insurance companies determine the loss, the titles will be marked “Flood Damaged.” The majority will be sold to dismantlers and will be stripped for parts.
Copart began in 1982 with one salvage yard in California and now operates more than 200 locations in 11 countries. Each day, you can find more then 175,000 vehicles up for auction.
Copart is not just an auction site. The company reaches out when natural disasters occur to help people get back on their feet. With a team of catastrophe relief experts, they are able to quickly get to the areas where they are needed. Because they are so quick to retrieve the damaged vehicles, the vehicle owners are able to navigate the claims process sooner.
Giving back to the communities where they are located is important to the company as well, and they support veterans and first responders.
Copart has been in Okeechobee for several years, but until now was not the bustling scene of organized chaos it is now. As a matter of fact, many probably had no idea they were even there. The company looks for wide open areas where they can store thousands of vehicles after a disaster. Okeechobee County was selected because it is central to both coasts and had land just waiting to be used. The land was purchased in 2017 specifically for use as a standby location for catastrophic events.
If you would like to learn more about Copart, you can check out their website at https://www.copart.com/content/us/en/support/faq-topics/buying?intcmp=web_footer_buying_en.
