Spring Break
Flood Insurace Not Taxpayers' Responsibility
Our Opinion
Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: Commentary
In the wake of the devastating Midwest floods of recent weeks, it has become increasingly clear that many mistakes were made before the first raindrop fell. At the forefront of these errors is the fact that homes were built in areas knowingly predisposed to flooding. Additionally, many of the homeowners whose homes suffered the worst damage were either uninsured or underinsured. These blatant errors should be evaluated and analyzed to better serve Americans in the future.
Some of the homes damaged and destroyed in the most recent string of floods were not even fully-repaired since the last deluges in January 2007. Those same exact homes have flooded several times in recent years, prompting one to wonder why people are continuing to rebuild in locales known to flood out. The people who are rebuilding their homes over and over, trying to maintain what is familiar to them, are actually putting themselves in danger and the rest of us in the poorhouse. They keep doing the same thing wrong but expect a different result.
At the crux of the problem is the fact that since many of the homes had been previously flooded several times, private insurance has dropped the coverage of many of those homeowners. The insurance industry as a whole made the calculated determination that it was financially unreasonable to insure homes so likely to suffer flood damage. In a post-Katrina world, many insurance companies in the United States no longer even offer flood insurance to any high risk coastal areas. The fact that insurance companies would no longer insure homeowners against flood damage should have demonstrated that the area was too risky; when the wealthiest, savviest industry in America tells you they cannot turn a profit on you, it should demonstrate that you may have a serious problem.
Now, the midwesterners who made the mistake of living in high-risk areas without insurance are homeless and asset-less. They are seeking federal assistance, at the expense of the 300 million other Americans who weren't so short-sighted. This is an unreasonable request, but a compromise must be reached. They are Americans too, and must be helped, despite whatever mistakes they have made. That said, the best idea would be for federal authorities to offer small or partial assistance packages that would help the thousands affected from the recent floods on the condition that they relocate, as opposed to rebuild in the same area. This option allows us to prevent repeats of the same disaster, while helping out the unfortunate people who lost everything. Additionally, the federal government should make a more concerted effort to convince those living in high risk areas without insurance to move now before a disaster of catastrophic proportions strikes them.
Some of the homes damaged and destroyed in the most recent string of floods were not even fully-repaired since the last deluges in January 2007. Those same exact homes have flooded several times in recent years, prompting one to wonder why people are continuing to rebuild in locales known to flood out. The people who are rebuilding their homes over and over, trying to maintain what is familiar to them, are actually putting themselves in danger and the rest of us in the poorhouse. They keep doing the same thing wrong but expect a different result.
At the crux of the problem is the fact that since many of the homes had been previously flooded several times, private insurance has dropped the coverage of many of those homeowners. The insurance industry as a whole made the calculated determination that it was financially unreasonable to insure homes so likely to suffer flood damage. In a post-Katrina world, many insurance companies in the United States no longer even offer flood insurance to any high risk coastal areas. The fact that insurance companies would no longer insure homeowners against flood damage should have demonstrated that the area was too risky; when the wealthiest, savviest industry in America tells you they cannot turn a profit on you, it should demonstrate that you may have a serious problem.
Now, the midwesterners who made the mistake of living in high-risk areas without insurance are homeless and asset-less. They are seeking federal assistance, at the expense of the 300 million other Americans who weren't so short-sighted. This is an unreasonable request, but a compromise must be reached. They are Americans too, and must be helped, despite whatever mistakes they have made. That said, the best idea would be for federal authorities to offer small or partial assistance packages that would help the thousands affected from the recent floods on the condition that they relocate, as opposed to rebuild in the same area. This option allows us to prevent repeats of the same disaster, while helping out the unfortunate people who lost everything. Additionally, the federal government should make a more concerted effort to convince those living in high risk areas without insurance to move now before a disaster of catastrophic proportions strikes them.
Be the first to comment on this story