“How long are we willing to fight against the sea before we give up?”
This is the question I’ve been asking for a while now too. I grew up in fort myers and my fam still lives there, I also briefly worked as a reporter at the fort myers beach newspaper a few years ago. after Ian my mom and I drove out to the island and in the middle of a completely flattened town square, residents (most of whom are snowbirds from the Midwest) were having a rally talking about how they were determined to rebuild their homes in “paradise”. The level of denial fascinates me.
"You can't fight the water, you can't even control it...you can only try to live in concert with it." This is what the fishing/lobster/clam people believe back home.
This issue is one of the many reasons I am bullish on the rust belt. Chose many years ago to settle and own property in southern Ohio, mans natural habitat. Immune from natural disasters of every kind except the occasional tornado.
American was built in the Ohio River Valley, and to the OVR she shall return.
omigawd! What can I say? How dare you tell the truth in this difficult time? We have enough problems grappling with the daily difficulties of costs, and strange weather, without being expected to face the facts, for God's sake.
As one of the fools who long ago bought a little house not too far from the beach, and whose insurance more than tripled this year, I'd like to say that one of my sharpest memories is seeing the video of a motor boat cruising through the neighborhood in 3 or4 feet of water. Needless to say, many companies no longer insure this area, but as long as the greed patrol ignores Climate Change, the only people who might do something are those in D.C. who awake some morning underwater.
You cannot get a mortgage without insurance. If insurance is denied in these coastal environments it would eliminate home building to those areas except for those who can afford to live there without insurance. I can live with that. I live in southwest FL but I live 35 miles east of the beach. I’m high and dry and my mortgage holder does not require me to have flood insurance, though I have it anyway. I have deductibles on my homeowners and in spite of Ian I’ve never filed a claim. It’s not a hard problem to solve - let the market solve it - not FEMA money. Let those that can afford to not have insurance live where they like - without federal backup - the rest of us will happily drive 35 miles to the beach
I would really like us to stop digging things out of the ground to burn, like dead dinosaurs, or cutting down trees to burn, like in the rainforest. It's possible Saudi Arabia has better quality dinosaurs than we did in Canada, who the hell knows. We need to STOP.
Our country IS full of immature people. Why is that? I’ve always wondered if it’s because they feel someone else is in charge (god, trump?, same?) so they don’t have to ever be part of the solution. The great redeemer will sort it for us.
They think "it's someone else's problem" and "I can't do anything as one person". I used to think along those same lines, then I got into animal rescue locally, and I saw how important it was to be one person that could change one animal life forever. You can be one person and work towards these big goals that your country has on climate change in your own house and in your own community. Every small thing helps.
That's right, using funds to just buy out flood prone homes and give them over to nature while also trying to build some flood resistance.
Shoreline RI is starting to wake up, but this is harder politically because people who own homes right on the coast usually have a direct line to the lawmakers who decide what happens. But a swanky historical beach club is already damaged and some nice beach front homes now have next to no beach left.
Add to this that Boston's most heavily developed section the last few years (The Seaport) routinely floods and you can see a slow moving disaster anywhere that is coastal. Florida is a mess, but what happens when Manhattan gets a Sandy more frequently?
You've likely read the following or something like it about how private insurance continues to provide coverage for the oil and gas industry even as they abandon individual homeowners to the consequences of climate change.
The Great Coastal Migration is going to happen sooner than you think, because that damn mysterious climate change that doesn't exist is going to force people to move inland. My parents live in Nova Scotia, and if the ice sheet melts anymore, they're going to be underwater in five years. It might be less if hurricane season gets worse. They used to get the ass end of them, but now they're getting the full ball of spinning wax.
It doesn't count if you're part of the cartel that sets the prices for the stuff you need to repair it. It would be like if State Farm also owned all the general contractors in the country.
Exactly. Until we're ready to start talking about why it costs so much, it doesn't really matter who's paying for it--and "reform" will only be so much window-dressing.
If everybody ends up having to buy their insurance from the state-run insurer, that right there is socialism. One consequence of that is that the insurer goes under the political microscope. The rates the insurer charges, its operations and management, even who works for the insurer and how much money they make, all become dominant, perennial political issues.
Everything here is absolutely true and correct. The problem is there and we refuse to address it because it makes people feel icky.
You're so right!!
“How long are we willing to fight against the sea before we give up?”
This is the question I’ve been asking for a while now too. I grew up in fort myers and my fam still lives there, I also briefly worked as a reporter at the fort myers beach newspaper a few years ago. after Ian my mom and I drove out to the island and in the middle of a completely flattened town square, residents (most of whom are snowbirds from the Midwest) were having a rally talking about how they were determined to rebuild their homes in “paradise”. The level of denial fascinates me.
"You can't fight the water, you can't even control it...you can only try to live in concert with it." This is what the fishing/lobster/clam people believe back home.
This issue is one of the many reasons I am bullish on the rust belt. Chose many years ago to settle and own property in southern Ohio, mans natural habitat. Immune from natural disasters of every kind except the occasional tornado.
American was built in the Ohio River Valley, and to the OVR she shall return.
It's so not fine. Places like Chicago are seeing rates skyrocket too, to help cover the losses in places like Florida.
omigawd! What can I say? How dare you tell the truth in this difficult time? We have enough problems grappling with the daily difficulties of costs, and strange weather, without being expected to face the facts, for God's sake.
As one of the fools who long ago bought a little house not too far from the beach, and whose insurance more than tripled this year, I'd like to say that one of my sharpest memories is seeing the video of a motor boat cruising through the neighborhood in 3 or4 feet of water. Needless to say, many companies no longer insure this area, but as long as the greed patrol ignores Climate Change, the only people who might do something are those in D.C. who awake some morning underwater.
You cannot get a mortgage without insurance. If insurance is denied in these coastal environments it would eliminate home building to those areas except for those who can afford to live there without insurance. I can live with that. I live in southwest FL but I live 35 miles east of the beach. I’m high and dry and my mortgage holder does not require me to have flood insurance, though I have it anyway. I have deductibles on my homeowners and in spite of Ian I’ve never filed a claim. It’s not a hard problem to solve - let the market solve it - not FEMA money. Let those that can afford to not have insurance live where they like - without federal backup - the rest of us will happily drive 35 miles to the beach
Sounds like a really good reason to green up our countries. We can't afford the effects of climate change.
I would really like us to stop digging things out of the ground to burn, like dead dinosaurs, or cutting down trees to burn, like in the rainforest. It's possible Saudi Arabia has better quality dinosaurs than we did in Canada, who the hell knows. We need to STOP.
Our country IS full of immature people. Why is that? I’ve always wondered if it’s because they feel someone else is in charge (god, trump?, same?) so they don’t have to ever be part of the solution. The great redeemer will sort it for us.
They think "it's someone else's problem" and "I can't do anything as one person". I used to think along those same lines, then I got into animal rescue locally, and I saw how important it was to be one person that could change one animal life forever. You can be one person and work towards these big goals that your country has on climate change in your own house and in your own community. Every small thing helps.
It's not just coastal red states. Some areas of New England are taking some action:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/12/metro/johnston-ri-offering-buyouts-to-homeowners-on-some-flood-prone-streets/
That's right, using funds to just buy out flood prone homes and give them over to nature while also trying to build some flood resistance.
Shoreline RI is starting to wake up, but this is harder politically because people who own homes right on the coast usually have a direct line to the lawmakers who decide what happens. But a swanky historical beach club is already damaged and some nice beach front homes now have next to no beach left.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/19/metro/powerful-storms-ri-have-eroded-beaches-damaged-properties/
Add to this that Boston's most heavily developed section the last few years (The Seaport) routinely floods and you can see a slow moving disaster anywhere that is coastal. Florida is a mess, but what happens when Manhattan gets a Sandy more frequently?
Their probably will be an expensive wall system for Manhattan. Too much money there for our financiers to allow it to fail.
"We prefer being soothed and lied to." So true. Applies to many contexts.
We insist on it!
Great job summarizing a critical issue.
You've likely read the following or something like it about how private insurance continues to provide coverage for the oil and gas industry even as they abandon individual homeowners to the consequences of climate change.
https://www.ran.org/the-understory/these-insurance-companies-are-making-the-world-uninsurable/
Thanks, great summary of a complex problem.
The Great Coastal Migration is going to happen sooner than you think, because that damn mysterious climate change that doesn't exist is going to force people to move inland. My parents live in Nova Scotia, and if the ice sheet melts anymore, they're going to be underwater in five years. It might be less if hurricane season gets worse. They used to get the ass end of them, but now they're getting the full ball of spinning wax.
Cool. Now do health insurance-especially the part about letting insurance companies set prices as high as actuarial tables allow.
It doesn't count if you're part of the cartel that sets the prices for the stuff you need to repair it. It would be like if State Farm also owned all the general contractors in the country.
Exactly. Until we're ready to start talking about why it costs so much, it doesn't really matter who's paying for it--and "reform" will only be so much window-dressing.
Well sure, but if our political system was capable of actually confronting and curbing corporate power, we wouldn't have most of our problems.
If everybody ends up having to buy their insurance from the state-run insurer, that right there is socialism. One consequence of that is that the insurer goes under the political microscope. The rates the insurer charges, its operations and management, even who works for the insurer and how much money they make, all become dominant, perennial political issues.