My uncle's house and my roommate's parents' house were not in flood plains, yet they were flooded out during the hurricane. Wind damage was minimal and covered by insurance (btw, for those of you who don't already know it, hurricane insurance does not cover damage done by tidal surges. You have to own seperate insurance for flooding to cover it even though the hurricane caused the flooding. Even in areas not prone to flooding at all.). That's what most of the cost coming from the Gulf Coast is. Flooding in areas that don't normally flood and taking over homes that don't carry flood insurance. There are many people who don't have that insurance because their insurance salesmen told them they didn't need it not living in a flood plain.

And what about where I live? It's obvious now that hurricanes can and will strike this area and destroy homes and businesses. Forget the fact that I live about 100 miles inland.

Fact is that my uncle has lived in Gulfport coming up on 40 years. In that time, he's only seen two storms that really did any big damage where government aid was really necessary. Katrina, of course, was one and Camile was the other. In between all that time the only money he took from the government was his paycheck for being an employee of the US Postal Service. Is the government now supposed to tell him to fuck himself if he decides to stay? What about not only the port and tourist industry, but the shrimping/fishing industry, the timber comanies, the natural gas pipelines, and the oil refineries and rigs?

whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."