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No surprise there. Here in Florda, there are thousands of huge 2-3 story mansions on the keys and beach... including right where we are, on the left side of Ia

No surprise there. Here in Florda, there are thousands of huge 2-3 story mansions on the keys and beach... including right where we are, on the left side of Ian's landfall. These places should be empty public beaches or hardened hotels, but alas they are just banks of big houses that will get flooded and torn up by the next hurricane. And there are tons of developments built in low, swampy areas next to big rivers. And did Ian scare anyone? Did it affect zoning? Nope. Real estate is as crazy hot as ever here, with prices shooting up and low lying swamps being mowed down for new neighborhoods. Newcomers here know nothing about hurricanes, and tons of them view increasing flood risk as hysterical "climate alarmism" when I talk to them about it, just like before Ian and Irma. I am no fan of insurers, but they are smart to get out. Homebuilding in SW/SE Florida is nuts.

LispSporks22 3y ago
How does the flood insurance program work? I thought it was basically government subsidy for getting insurance where it would not make for an insurer to insure. Is the cost with that included just too high now?
- brucethemoose2 3y ago
  The government produces floodmaps that dictate your "flood zones" and affect your rate, and you can either buy public or government approved private insurance. We are in a lower risk flood zone, but insurance is really expensive now, yeah, and getting much worse. Also it doesn't really cover all the possessions in your home, at least for us. The insurance scheme doesn't matter. The fundamental problem is that too much stuff is built in flood prone areas, and someone has to foot that bill when all that stuff gets trashed. Its like building neighboorhoods on the lip of volcano. The cost is unpredictable and potentially huge, but inevitable in the near term, which must be a nightmare for insurers.
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    > We are in a lower risk flood zone, but insurance is really expensive now, yeah, and getting much worse. An additional problem is that flood risk is based on area elevation rather than dwelling elevation. In a zone where houses range from 2' to 40' elevation, those dwellings are all rated the same for surge risk.
JimtheCoder 3y ago
Doesn't this boost GDP and keep people employed? Build a big house, weather knocks it down, build a bigger house, weather knocks it down...
- WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
  > Doesn't this boost GDP and keep people employed? Build a big house, weather knocks it down, build a bigger house, weather knocks it down... No because the people who most need the wages can't afford to live where the work is.
  - JimtheCoder 3y ago
    But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow...
    - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
      > But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow... I did geothermal for mansions a long while back and it's mostly specialized contractors bringing in a small crew. It's not a ton of employed people and not locals. Where I've seen high numbers of local employees making good wages are in areas constructing a lot of dense housing, particularly townhomes.
      - brucethemoose2 3y ago
        There is a ton of both around here (south of Tampa)
        WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
        North of Tampa, there is some dense housing construction but most housing starts are supersized, detached offerings. That cheers up the NIMBYs (a robust homeless community testifies to NIMBY successes). There was heavy apartment building along SR54 until the county commission's moratorium. It was just for that corridor but apartment building died instead of moving north.
dnstalk 3y ago
Miami-Dade and Broward requires buildings to be built to modern hurricane standards ("best in the world") but the rest of the state has resisted adopting the same standards. https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/South-Floridas-Hurricane-Building-Code-StrongAnd-North-Floridas-Could-Be-Stronger https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/South-Floridas-Hurricane-B...
- brucethemoose2 3y ago
  I am not worried about wind, the houses here are still built like bunkers. Oak trees, cages, signs all got ripped up by Ian, but our neighborhood's houses were fine. But the only thing that protects against flooding is building elevated, with an empty 1st floor or stilts or whatever.
LatteLazy 3y ago
The more people build the more they get subsidies for insurance because you cannot upset people. The more subsidies they get the more people build.

LispSporks22 3y ago

How does the flood insurance program work? I thought it was basically government subsidy for getting insurance where it would not make for an insurer to insure. Is the cost with that included just too high now?

brucethemoose2 3y ago
The government produces floodmaps that dictate your "flood zones" and affect your rate, and you can either buy public or government approved private insurance. We are in a lower risk flood zone, but insurance is really expensive now, yeah, and getting much worse. Also it doesn't really cover all the possessions in your home, at least for us. The insurance scheme doesn't matter. The fundamental problem is that too much stuff is built in flood prone areas, and someone has to foot that bill when all that stuff gets trashed. Its like building neighboorhoods on the lip of volcano. The cost is unpredictable and potentially huge, but inevitable in the near term, which must be a nightmare for insurers.
- WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
  > We are in a lower risk flood zone, but insurance is really expensive now, yeah, and getting much worse. An additional problem is that flood risk is based on area elevation rather than dwelling elevation. In a zone where houses range from 2' to 40' elevation, those dwellings are all rated the same for surge risk.

JimtheCoder 3y ago

Doesn't this boost GDP and keep people employed? Build a big house, weather knocks it down, build a bigger house, weather knocks it down...

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
> Doesn't this boost GDP and keep people employed? Build a big house, weather knocks it down, build a bigger house, weather knocks it down... No because the people who most need the wages can't afford to live where the work is.
- JimtheCoder 3y ago
  But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow...
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    > But if the mansions are getting built, which they appear to be, the workers must be getting there somehow... I did geothermal for mansions a long while back and it's mostly specialized contractors bringing in a small crew. It's not a ton of employed people and not locals. Where I've seen high numbers of local employees making good wages are in areas constructing a lot of dense housing, particularly townhomes.
    - brucethemoose2 3y ago
      There is a ton of both around here (south of Tampa)
      - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
        North of Tampa, there is some dense housing construction but most housing starts are supersized, detached offerings. That cheers up the NIMBYs (a robust homeless community testifies to NIMBY successes). There was heavy apartment building along SR54 until the county commission's moratorium. It was just for that corridor but apartment building died instead of moving north.

dnstalk 3y ago

Miami-Dade and Broward requires buildings to be built to modern hurricane standards ("best in the world") but the rest of the state has resisted adopting the same standards. https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/South-Floridas-Hurricane-Building-Code-StrongAnd-North-Floridas-Could-Be-Stronger https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/South-Floridas-Hurricane-B...

brucethemoose2 3y ago
I am not worried about wind, the houses here are still built like bunkers. Oak trees, cages, signs all got ripped up by Ian, but our neighborhood's houses were fine. But the only thing that protects against flooding is building elevated, with an empty 1st floor or stilts or whatever.

LatteLazy 3y ago

The more people build the more they get subsidies for insurance because you cannot upset people. The more subsidies they get the more people build.