Let's face it. Hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida and surrounding states. They are stronger and more frequent than ever before. There have been 17 hurricanes in Florida in the past 20 years! Do we continue to spend billions of dollars to rebuild these areas, only to have them knocked down in the next hurricane?
Let's look at Katrina (New Orleans). The federal government allocated $15 billion to rebuild Katrina. The total cost of rebuilding New Orleans was $125 billion, and it's not even done yet. Puerto Rico. Billions of dollars spent to rebuild, and here we are again, another hurricane and billions more in damage.
Should people be allowed to rebuild in areas that are hit year after year by devastating storms? Who should foot the bill for the damage? Mobile homes are not built to withstand 150 mph winds, and the after effects of hurricane Ian show that. Mobile homes were decimated during the recent storm, and should not be located in areas with yearly storms. Updated building codes are part of the answer. Florida has updated their building codes dramatically over the past 20 years, and structures built with new and more stringent standards withstood the latest storm. So, stricter building standards are definitely needed. What about insurance? What about relocating to less dangerous areas?
We have a big, beautiful country, with lots of unused land. Let's develop other, safer areas of the country to house people. I know we all want to live near water, but let's face facts. In this age of more frequent, stronger and deadlier storms, this is not possible. Billions of dollars to rebuild, and then have the same thing happen next year or the following year? It doesn't make good sense.
Lawmakers have some hard decisions to make, not all of them popular. Will they make the decision that gets them reelected, or the one that serves their community?
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