In a previous thread, I wrote about moving folks inland and refusing to help rebuild house on the beachfront or close to it. But it was kind of OT, so I figured I would start a thread for this article. Read it before you comment:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/02/us/coa...html?hpt=hp_t2
Populations living in coastal counties have exploded over the last 30-40 years. Some relevant points:
1) Ocean County in NJ (hit by Sandy) has grown from 208K to 576K from 1970 to 2010.
2) Population of coastal shore-line counties will reach 133 million by 2020, compared to 33 million in 1980. SHIT!!!! Growth of 100 million.
3) One-quarter of all seasonal or second homes are in coastal Florida
4) More than 60% of homes/buildings within 500 feet of shore are on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
I think the first major warning we had about this was in the 1990 when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida and did 10s of billions of dollars in damage - significantly more than any of the many previous hurricanes to hit Florida.
It seems to me that the damage ramps up exponentially within about 1/4 mile of the water.
So, unless we begin to institute policies that greatly discourage building homes and businesses near the water, these coastal storms causing major damage are going to be happening at least once a decade, maybe more.
And it won't matter which party is in power. They are guaranteed to be caught short-handed. You can make plans to evacuate people and save lives. You cannot evacuate property.
You have to avoid building it - or rebuilding it - in the first place.