Quote:

thedoctor said:
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 separate 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.





Insurance companies have been attempting to avoid payment by claiming the damage was attributable to flooding, not wind, thus exempting the insurance from reimbursement:







I agree with G-man's assertion that areas with extreme vulnerability to natural disaster should not be developed or covered by federal reconstruction funds.
So that those willing to take that risk are the ones financially responsible, not the U.S. taxpayers.

And I agree that far higher building standards should be enforced for areas that choose to develop those high-risk areas.




My own native South Florida is well known to be a high-risk area for hurricane flooding and wind damage.

That's why for decades homes have been constructed in this area out of concrete, rather than wood.

but several decades of minimal storms in the 70's and 80's cultivated a complacency about hurricanes, and hurricane Andrew (August 1992) exposed the error of complacently moving to wood-frame homes, which were the ones completely destroyed by Andrew, to the tune of 20 billion dollars.

Now, the standard is back to concrete homes.




And Florida standards for roof construction now requires a higher number of nails per square foot, and other reinforcement.
A standard that didn't exist before Andrew.



If homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were made from concrete, I'd wager the number of destroyed homes would be far lower.
Two years from now, the new ones probably will be.




In areas within a quarter-mile of the coast, homes should be built to make the ground level of the house for a garage and storage space only, with the greater part of the house supported above it on concrete beams, to secure it from easily foreseeable flooding.




And within the most at-risk areas (areas within the first quarter-mile of the shoreline), if these ocean-front areas are destroyed by a hurricane, if reimbursement is given, it should not be to re-construct in the same place, but be reimbursement given on the condition they will rebuild further inland, on safer ground.
The most devastated areas should be rebuilt as public parks, rather than reconstructed just to be destroyed again at great public expense.

That's what I think should be done in New Orleans. I sure as hell wouldn't want to rebuild a home at 10 feet below sea level, and roll the dice for next time.





The same is true where I live in Florida. The coast of my city was virtually all woodland along the Atlantic coast in the 60's, 70's and early 80's.
We all understood growing up that it would be crazy to build huge condominiums right on the coast, because they'd all be taken out by the first storm.

But over the last 20-25 years, that has all been turned into 10-story condominiums right on the beach.



I feel the same way about these as I do about New Orleans, that these condos were built at their own risk, in an area known to be highly vulnerable to hurricane damage.
And those who choose to build there should not obligate others to pick up the tab later.

Further inland is reasonable to cover with insurance. But for those who choose to live in the most risky areas (within a quarter-mile of the coastline) these people know the risks, and should not later expect others to pay the bill for the risk they willingly took on.



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