Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
While there are true "acts of nature" (I won't say "acts of God" except to admit that the restraint of God allows things that we might not otherwise prefer), the things you mention are clearly stupidity of man.
I have argued for years that if you live in a serious flood plain, oceanside in the obvious hurricane paths, or 6 feet below sea level between a lake and a major river, you get either zero, or at most one crack at a hand out. Once you take a dime of disaster relief, if you go right back where you were, you are on your own. It's like sailing the Pacific Ocean in a life raft and demanding that every ocean-going ship that passes by give you a hand-out rather than letting them take you out of the ocean. If you demand the hand-out, you get one. Then you are on your own.
|
This is one of my pet peeves. The US builds flood walls to contain the Mississippi river. This is a stupid thing to do on many, many levels. But it does help in one respect, it makes it easier for boats to navigate the Mississippi. At the time of Mark Twain it was an extremely highly regarded skill to be able to navigate the Mississippi. This levee system is the ultimate boondoggle. Many jobs are created which Politicians take credit for. Because the Politicians hand out these jobs they get millions and millions in campaign contributions from those that look to benefit. In the end, as a result of this boondoggle you have Huge ocean going ships travelling up a river whose surface is above houses only feet away from the flood wall. It is a scary sight if you google the pictures of the 9th ward prior to the flood. Insurance companies realize what is going to go down, so those living in the 9th ward can buy their houses for cheap, they can even get some form of insurance, but they can't get flood insurance. Now this is truly the equivalent of a knife in the back by the govt who is supposed to give out building permits and zoning laws based on things like this. For them to allow the poor (who else would buy a house like this without flood insurance) to buy a house without flood insurance in a zone that clearly requires flood insurance is criminal. In the end who gets scammed? The poor schmucks who owned houses and the tax payer who pays to clean up this mess.