Sometimes I read something, and I just get sick of my fellow Americans. This is another one of those cases:
Two days after Hurricane Wilma, Floridians faced the unpleasant prospect Wednesday of waiting in lines for hours to get basic necessities such as water and ice.
Amid widespread power outages, thousands of frustrated North Miami residents stood in line for nearly 12 hours Tuesday for a bag of ice and three bottles of water.
“All that time. This is all we get?” asked 23-year-old Fanie Aristil, speaking to The Associated Press after waiting nine hours for the supplies…
In addition to long lines for ice and water, Floridians also had to wait in lines dozens of vehicles long to buy gasoline at stations that were open for business.
Longtime residents and veterans of past hurricanes appeared surprised by the damage caused by Wilma, which roared ashore early Monday with 125 mph winds, storm surge flooding and heavy rain. At least five U.S. deaths have been blamed on the storm…
On Florida’s southwest coast, in Naples, residents were angry when FEMA staff didn’t show up to distribute water when they said they would.
“What are we supposed to do? We’re supposed to count on FEMA. It’s disgusting,” resident Nilsa Colon said.
You chose to live in a tropical paradise. You chose to build your house there. You chose not to stockpile water and goods so that you have to rely on others. You chose not to flee the impending storm. You made all of those choices, yet when my tax dollars go to send the federal government down there to help you out anyway, DESPITE all of your bad choices, you bitch and piss and moan about long lines?
This is getting absurd.
Mac Buckets
America was built on self-reliance and willful determination under adverse conditions. It’s always troubling to see that those qualities don’t exist anymore with many overdependant “Where’s MINE?” whiners who get apoplectic when Mama Gov’mint doesn’t throw them a teat fast enough for their pleasure.
metalgrid
It’s hard to begrudge the entitlement population when:
1. The government actually establishes agencies like FEMA for situations like this.
2. Funds them with these people’s tax dollars as well as our own.
So what do you expect, people to say: “Well the government is in the business of providing hurricane relief, and my tax dollars go to fund it, but I’ll just give it all a pass due to my strong libertarian sensibilities”?
chris Muir
I’ve gotten pasted 4 times now by hurricanes here in FL, and prepared for each one, so those who whine are, well, whiners. On the other hand, don’t go down that road of ‘you chose to live there’ crap, where you’re ‘sending your federal dollars’.
Next time there’s an earthquake in California, a flood in Tennessee, an out-of-control wildfire in the Midwest, a massive snowstorm up North, etc-should Floridians mock you when Mother Nature slams you up there?
This is the United States, not the Selected States.We ALL live here,so send that federal dollars crap where it belongs,in the shitter.
Krista
Amen. No excuse for not stockpiling water and goods, and making sure your car was filled up. There was plenty of warning for this storm, and all of the warnings were pretty dire.
Maybe not everybody could afford to.
Yup. That’s the problem with people when they live in cities that have frequent hurricanes. 1. They become complacent, always thinking that the upcoming storm is not going to be that bad. 2. They’re so used to city conveniences that they’ve lost all sense of self-reliance, and can’t cope when their services are cut off for awhile.
We’ve only had one hurricane up here, and right now, in our storage closet, we have 10 gallons of water, 2 propane lanterns, a small cooking stove with fuel cans, candles, waterproof matches, emergency blankets, and an led lantern. It takes up very little space. There is no reason why EVERYBODY should not have those very basic supplies always at hand.
SomeCallMeTim
“Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:
1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)”
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2004/09/red_states_feed.html
SomeCallMeTim
Title should read, “States Receiving Most in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid”.
Faux News
Didn’t FEMA send all the ice to Maine?
Jim Allen
Re: “Didn’t FEMA send all the ice to Maine?”
No — some of it ended up in Gloucester, MA. Sending it all the way to Maine would have been silly.
Otto Man
Don’t worry, Tim. Once John gets rid of Robert Byrd, West Virginia will surely stop taking in more than its fair share of federal tax money.
Jim Allen
SomeCallMeTime, you should have added the other part of that list:
1. New Jersey ($0.62)
2. Connecticut ($0.64)
3. New Hampshire ($0.68)
4. Nevada ($0.73)
5. Illinois ($0.77)
6. Minnesota ($0.77)
7. Colorado ($0.79)
8. Massachusetts ($0.79)
9. California ($0.81)
10. New York ($0.81)
“Two states — Florida and Oregon (coincidentally, the two closest states in the 2000 Presidential election) — received $1.00 in federal spending for each $1.00 in federal taxes paid.”
Odd, isn’t it, that 8 of the top nine sponge-states (ignoring DC for the moment, given its non-state status) are nice “conservative” red states? And that 7 of the most generous 10 states are “liberal” blue?
John, please send some of that extra money you folks in WV got to us in Massachusetts, please. I shouldn’t be penalized because you choose to live in a state that’s sucking off the Federal teat, now, should I?
Faux News
Oops. My bad. Wrong Hurricane:
FEMA Sends Trucks Full Of Ice For Katrina Victims To Maine
created: 9/19/2005 8:31:47 PM
updated: 9/20/2005 10:46:21 AM
The trucks started arriving this weekend, and they’re expected to keep coming through Sunday.
City officials say they have no idea why the trucks are here, only that the city has been asked to help out with traffic problems. But the truck drivers NEWSCENTER spoke to said they went all the way down to the gulf coast with the ice — stayed for a few days — and then were told by FEMA they needed to drive to Maine to store it.
The truck drivers, who are from all over the country, tell us they were subcontracted by FEMA.
They started arriving over the weekend, and city spokesperson Peter Dewitt says as many as 200 trucks could come to the city by the end of the week.
The trucks are storing the ice at Americold, a company with a warehouse on Read Street in Portland. People who live nearby say all the traffic has been baffling them for days.
The trucks can only unload 4 at a time — so the city is allowing some of them to sit at the International Marine Terminal and at the Jetport’s satellite parking lot.
No one NEWSCENTER talked to has any idea when, or even if the ice will go back to the gulf coast.
WCSH/WLBZ
http://ksdk.com/news/us_world_article.aspx?storyid=85020
The Disenfranchised Voter
Well said, John. People are becoming far too reliant on the government because of THEIR bad decisions.
I mean instead of being thankful that you actually are recieving supplies, you decided to bitch about the wait and quantity of said supplies?
Yea, stupid people piss me off too, John.
John Cole
Jim and SomeCallMeTim:
A.) I have been tryihjng actively to unelect Robert Byrd since 1984. What else would you like me to do?
B.) As that is a per capita statistic, you might also look into what portion of that money is not discretionary. For example, WV has an extremely old population, and a lot of that most likely is SS, medicare, and veteran’s benefits.
C.) What does that have to do with people whining about lines after they get ravaged by a hurricane they could have avoided?
Boombo
“2. Connecticut ($0.64)”
Dammit! I want my 36 cents!
Slartibartfast
True enough, but FEMA is not there to make sure you don’t foget to wipe your ass.
Naples was the target for landfall since last Friday, IIRC. Are you telling me that these people honestly thought that FEMA was going to supply everyone in the hurricane’s path with water? How do these people survive on normal days without accidentally killing themselves through neglect?
JFTR, I was never in the projected path, but I still managed to provision myself with enough water and food to last through a few days of outage.
Lines
Hey, shouldn’t we all be happy FEMA is actually there this time? I mean, at least they don’t have to wait 3 or 4 more days this time.
metalgrid
Why aren’t they handing out toilet paper? After all, these people need to wipe their asses too.
Gratefulcub
I sure hope the ‘here we go again’ title isn’t somehow implying that people in Florida complaining about lines is the same as crazy loony liberals complaining because people were starving at the superdome.
Darrell
If you live in an area where there is a KNOWN likelihood of flooding (living on a flood plain), hurricanes, earthquakes (living in an area known to be prone to earthquakes), or fires (Berkeley hills anyone?), then for the most part, you should not expect federal taxpayers to bail your ass out for your decision to live there. You want to take the risk? Buy insurance, stock up on supplies, plan and prepare for the worst. But it should be YOUR responsibility. If disaster strikes an area where such dangers were not known, that’s a completely different matter
Bitching about lack of availability of water when this storm was predicted well in advance is unbelievable
halffasthero
Holy cow! Darrell and I agree across the board! This is exactly right. The earthquake in San Fran is going to be huge and they are acting like it is never going to happen. Knowing what I know about the grology of that area, it is inevitable. That whole city is living in denial. And I will bet anything they will act like they just never knew this could happen. Same as many who live in Florida.
The Disenfranchised Voter
I’d have to say that I agree with Darrell too–though I dislike saying so.
:)
jg
I agree with the bitching by our host and some others here about people who had opportunity to leave now living off the fed but IMO this is one of the few purposes of a federal gov’t. There are things that can’t be handled at the local level, the event was too big. This is where I think we need a FEMA. Personally I think if we had a competent FEMA we wouldn’t be having this talk.
Cripple FEMA. Cause people to complain about things that should have been handled by FEMA. Get the rest of the country calling those people deadbeats who are stealing our tax dollars. End FEMA.
Emma Zahn
It’s the stupid media that is primarily responsible for the idea that the federal government is and should be the first responder in any situation. There is almost no coverage of state and local government in good or bad situations. For the media they barely exist.
And they never, ever ask the people who give them stupid quotes like, “All that time. This is all we get?”, what they were expecting or what happened to their own stockpiles.
And why quote this person at all. S/he is obviously a sheople.
“What are we supposed to do? We’re supposed to count on FEMA. It’s disgusting,”
It betrays a prevailing mindset in the media that is not liberal, just dumb.
Emma
ET
Ok will someone please tell me why the hell people – and people in Florida no less – are surprised by the damage that a hurricane can inflict. Please. My mother’s aunt married a man whose wife drowned in her house during Camille – and yet every time a hurricane causes damage people are some how surprised lots gets damaged and people die.
I am from N.O. and have heard enough talk on Camille and Betsy and seen enough close calls that I know how much a hurricane can cause. What’s the surprise? HELLO people, Mother Nature is a lot stronger that building codes and man made structures.
And the comment about FEMA from that woman- please. Has she not been watching the news for the last 2 months? What did she think, that because the governor is the presidents brother (though that may have helped some) that everything was going to be peachy keen and life would go on as if there was no hurricane? ARGH. I do feel bad for these people and 12 hours in line for ice/water is horrible, but at least they didn’t have to be rescued off the roofs of their house after a few days.
Jim Allen
John —
A.) We here in Massachusetts represented in the Senate by Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, and we get back only $.79 for each buck we send in, so don’t “blame” WV getting more than you put in on having a liberal senator. I don’t see the connection, and that’s after you include the costs of the Big Dig.
B.) Massachusetts has plenty of old people, people on Medicare and veterans as well. So what? The fact that it’s non-discretionary somehow trumps helping people after a disaster? Why don’t you just tell the old people to get off their asses and be constructive, rather than sitting around waiting for the government to hand them “your” money?
C.) It doesn’t have as much to do with “people whining about lines after they get ravaged by a hurricane they could have avoided” as it does people whining about “they’re tax dollars” going to poeple in other states when their own state is sucking down plenty of other people’s tax dollars.
Given the ratio of tax dollars returned to tax dollars paid in WV, exactly none of your tax dollars went to Florida, or, for that matter, Louisiana — they all stayed in WV and were supplemented by the tax dollars paid by residents of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and the rest of us. You have nothing to moan about.
Jim Allen
Make that “their tax dollars”. And “people” rather than “poeple”.
And that’s after proof-reading it. Twice. Sheesh.
Gregory Markle
I hate to break it to ya Lines but FEMA is no more or less there now than they were after Katrina. In Louisiana FEMA got swamped due to the shoddy work of local and state official and the finger-pointing that ensued…in Florida the state and local governements engage in the arcane and mystical activities of drafting disaster plans and actually following them. While that may appear to be the work of voodoo to the residents of some other states, it really isn’t surprising that only having to do it’s job and not cover the jobs of local and state authorities also makes FEMA look more efficient.
Krista
Darrell, on this, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Unless you were homeless to begin with, there is absolutely no plausible excuse for not having stockpiled the basic necessities, especially when you live in an area that is prone to nasty weather occurrences.
Slartibartfast
Well, it was a little worse than expected. But they ought to have expected that.
Now this: given the number of people in Dade County that claimed damages from FEMA for Hurricane Jeanne last year, do we expect more, the same, or fewer bogus claims this time around, now that they’ve actually been affected by a hurricane?
Another Jeff
I always make fun of the people here in PHilly (the most bad-weather-phobic people on the face of the earth) that raid supermarket shelves every time the news calls for anything more than a light dusting of snow, but at least they’re being proactive.
The Disenfranchised Voter
So you are criticizing the “national media” because they is little coverage of the local and state governments? I think the criticism is invalid to say the least. I can gaurantee you that the local media does cover local and state government issues–that is their reigion. Just because the national media–which is what your 24/7 news networks mainly are–doesn’t cover the local issues much isn’t surprising as that job is for the local media to do. And they do cover it.
chris Muir
“If you live in an area where there is a KNOWN likelihood of flooding (living on a flood plain), hurricanes, earthquakes (living in an area known to be prone to earthquakes), or fires (Berkeley hills anyone?), then for the most part, you should not expect federal taxpayers to bail your ass out for your decision to live there.”
NOT the point here,Darrell.
Apparently, If we don’t live where Darrell thinks we should live, then we are essentially not Americans, not eligible for Federal aid that other states receive. And, they do receive them.
Darrell’s eliminated most of California, Florida-Hell, the whole Gulf Coast, Several large NE cities,etc,etc as being worthy of aid from ‘his’ country. One might ask, are the true geologic factors known in DarrellLand? One of the largest faultlines is in the center of the US, but have insurers and citizens living there covered their nut in case of the Big One happening there?
The point is: If you adopt a cost-based approach to citizenship-and that is EXACTLY what Darrell is proposing here-then we really aren’t a Federal Republic, are we? Why the Hell should Florida send all its electrical trucks to New Orleans and vice versa, if we don’t give a crap about other States?
It’s a big continent, and people are free to live where they want, THAT’S the compact of what being a citizen is about.
If that’s not your thing, fine. But that’s not what this country’s about.
In DarrellLand, be sure to have your credit checked before you apply.
Ben
DC being at the top of SomecallmeTims list is misleading… the Federal Gov’mint pays jack shit to the District for taxes on land and buildings used by the Feds creating a miniscule tax base. On top of that, there are all of the parks, monuments, and every friggin protest, million-whatever-march du jour and all of the law enforcement that comes with everyone of those events, which are every weekend (I used to live on the Hill).
ChrisMuir,
You are misreading Darrell… he doesn’t want to control where you live only that you pay for it. It is a foregone conclusion that FL is going to get bitch slapped by hurricanes on a regular basis yet people continue to live there expecting to be bailed out. Enough. NO got wiped out one time and people were talking about abandoning the city. Florida has had 8 hurricanes hit in the last 14 months. F’n pay for them yourselves… same with Cali and the fires. There should be a point in the US where certain places become unhabitable… taxpayers should’s continue to pay for natural disasters ad naseum when you know they are coming. Move already.
Mr Furious
I’m not going to jump all the way into the pile-on here, but I will add a few points…
To the idiot Floridian I heard on NPR saying, “We didn’t know what to expect, we were worried we might get a Katrina, and instead we got Katrina times five!” Dude, get some fucking perspective! You lost some tiles on your roof and your backyard tree. That whole city sunk into the bayou. A THOUSAND people died. Jesus.
To the fucking idiots who live on Dauphin Island. get fucking real. Build yourself another house on that migrating sandbar at your own peril. If the gov’t underwrites anything more than a weather station on that island again, it is an outrage.
To Darrell. Where exactly is it “safe” to live in your world? Douchebag.
To everybody else in Florida—in a post-Katrina world, sympathy for what seems to be a run-of-the-mill hurricane will be in short supply. You knew it was coming, and it was about the slowest moving hurricane ever. If you weren’t going to leave, you should have prepared…somewhat. Fill up some jugs with water, perhaps? You’ll all live without power for a few days while they roll out some new wire. At least you didn’t have to abandon your home for a month to return to a condemned Crystal Cavern of Mold. Nobody wants to hear you complaining that your FEMA Whopper had cheese on it. Suck it up. A little.
Vlad
“Well, it was a little worse than expected. But they ought to have expected that.”
Recursion dooms us!
Mr Furious
Apparently, everybody needs to move to “Ben and Darrell’s Disaster-Free Shangri-La.” Wherever the hell that is.
Mr Furious
Living between those two actually should qualify you for assistance…
chris Muir
Ben Says:
“ChrisMuir,
You are misreading Darrell… he doesn’t want to control where you live only that you pay for it. …”
Did you read my post at ALL?
“F’n pay for them yourselves”
I do when California burns, or NY freezes, roads need building in Podunk, Nowheresville, etc-and who the hell are YOU to give ME what my qualifications need to be?
“… same with Cali and the fires. There should be a point in the US where certain places become unhabitable… taxpayers should’s continue to pay for natural disasters ad naseum when you know they are coming. Move already.”
Who decides how America is to be partioned? You? DarrelLand?
The solution is obvious here. Ben, move to DarrelLand.
And don’t EVER presume to tell fellow Americans just what qualifies them for statehood in YOUR eyes.
Slartibartfast
Dude, recall that Katrina hit Florida before plowing into southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Personally, I took that to mean they expected the Katrina that hit Florida, not the far larger storm that Wilma was.
Which, too, was stupid. Remember, south Florida is the spoiled-ballot capital of…well, you get the picture.
Slartibartfast
Hey, I just hate using smileys.
Mr Furious
Point taken. But that’s not the way it plays on the radio when I heard it. Perhaps because we’ve been Katrina’d to death.
Anyway, the larger point remains, after what happened with Katrina in NO and Wilma in Mexico, people should be taking these things (ie: preparation or evacuation) a little more seriously. This was the same storm that was, for a time, the strongest hurricane ever recorded…and yet it was slow enough to give DAYS before hitting Florida.
Slartibartfast
If you try to evacuate out of the way of hurricane winds, you can wind up more in the way than you started. Evacuation to escape storm surge, on the other hand, should be a given.
Defense Guy
I didn’t read John’s posts as bitching about spending federal dollars to help Flordia, as many here seem to indicate, but rather that people are bitching because they are not being served fast enough or with enough. I agree.
I am for helping our fellow countrymen in times of trouble, but do expect that those that choose to ride out the storms must understand that they are responsible for ensuring they are stocked up with the essentials for life for at least a few days. The fact that FEMA is not superhuman should be apparent to everyone by now, and bitching about those that are helping seems in poor taste.
BTW – love your strip chris.
Halffasthero
By the way, I meant to say “geology” not “grology” on my earlier post. I should start proofreading.
In defense of Darrell, his issue is that people living in these areas start taking responsibilities for their own risks. Dauphin Island is a perfect example of the abuse of tax dollars. Why build on that damned sand bar? If so, why expect the taxpayer to bankroll it?
Darrell
It’s precisely the point asswipe. If you choose to build on the side of a cliff famous for mudslides, why the fuck should anyone but you pay for that risk? Same goes those living on the gulf coast cities which regularly get hammered by hurricanes. You can live wherever you want you arrogant prick. Just don’t demand that the rest of the country subsidize the risks you choose to take. It’s no different than a bad driver with 10 speeding tickets/3 wrecks in the last year, demanding that others subsidize his car insurance. Drive what you want, live where you wnat, but don’t whine like a bitch for everyone else to pay for it
Darrell
Looks like you answered your own question in the very same post:
Do you realize how stupid that makes you? do you see it?
Mr Furious
Um, not quite. I think we can all agree that Dauphin Island is a stupid place to build a town. Especially stupid since we are actually talking about RE-building it.
As far as my jab at you, you seem to eliminating an awful lot of the country where millions of people are living. What do you expect them to do? Move eveybody in California to Nevada? Lex Luthor had a plan like that… Chop Florida off and let it drift out to sea? I’m all for that since 2000, but let’s get real…
I think that there should be a ceiling on flood payouts for instance (which there is), but in addition, there should be a limit to the number or frequency of payouts. There is no way the government should be paying people to rebuild repeatedly. Make that payout limit more akin to a lifetime max — one full payout or after you reach the maximum, you take that money and relocate or assume the full risk. There also needs to be much stricter zoning and building restrictions to start with. Even if that flies in the face of you property rights-types.
chris Muir
“It’s precisely the point asswipe. If you choose to build on the side of a cliff famous for mudslides, why the fuck should anyone but you pay for that risk? Same goes those living on the gulf coast cities which regularly get hammered by hurricanes. You can live wherever you want you arrogant prick. Just don’t demand that the rest of the country subsidize the risks you choose to take. It’s no different than a bad driver with 10 speeding tickets/3 wrecks in the last year, demanding that others subsidize his car insurance. Drive what you want, live where you wnat, but don’t whine like a bitch for everyone else to pay for it”
That was elegantly put, Darrell.
I rest my case, and a big ‘thank you’ to Darrell, who so adroitly avoided any semblance of my post-STILL-by using his big reasoning words ‘asswipe’, ‘arrogant prick’, and ‘whiner’.
Though I must say, I do feel arrogant when I see the vision that is…DarrellLand, where the mind is unencumbered with thought, the horizons limited, and the conversation is grunting.
whatsleft
I guess everyone forgot that during those several days before Wilma the NHC was saying – repeatedly – that Wilma would be almost certainly a category one, at the most but highly unlikely a two. Plus that she would be “rocketing through”, which she did. Now, yes, a prudent person stocks up, but the intensity of the storm just caught everyone flat-footed.
Darrell
As elegantly as your earlier hysterical rantings about “DarrellLand”?
Ben
Furious,
The lifetime max is a great idea… the point being, how much is enough? How many times do we (US taxpayers) have to rebuild Florida? Yeah, the weather in Florida is better than in Cleveland… pretty attractive if someone else is footing the bill. Again, 8 hurricanes have hit Florida in 14 months. Pay for it yourselves.
Skeptic
I understand people wanting to live near water — ocean, lake, river — and anywhere else where the views are spectacular. But if you chose to live in a place that regularly is hit with natural disasters, you don’t deserve repeated bail-outs with taxpayer funds. IMO, once is enough. If you purchase sufficient insurance to keep rebuilding, well and good. But keep your hands out of my pockets. I can’t afford the luxury of your lifestyle.
scs
Hey you all laughed at my houseboat idea for New Orleans. But check out this story in the NYT about what they are trying in Holland
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/27/garden/27boat.html?hp
and you all won’t laugh anymore.
Steve S
Honestly, did you ever stop to think that maybe the problem is the media? That is, out of 4 million people, they purposefully went looking for someone to record them bitch?
Instead, they are just working to reinforce your stupid view?
I was living in Iowa in 1993 when we had our floods. I’m well aware of what it means to be self reliant. I’m well aware also of what it means to need some help.
I remember then seeing loony wingnuts from the east and west coast complaining about how we in Iowa were receiving handouts, and why didn’t we just help ourselves. It wasn’t very fucking helpful, especially considering the amount of work that we in Iowa did do ourselves in preparation and cleanup.
The point being, you’ve got no fucking perspective of what these people actually did do, instead you just want to blame victims instead of offering help.
That being said, I still cannot for the life of me understand why people in Florida aren’t building homes that look like bomb shelters.
Slartibartfast
Well, they’re more like bomb shelters than they were a decade ago.
Orlando hasn’t seen a Category 3 hurricane since 1960, so I think we’re in a pretty decent place. On the other hand, hurricanes have done damage rather far inland and rather far north, so if you want everyone to move away, better have them move a few hundred miles, at least. Hurricane Opal tore a swath through Alabama all the way up to the north end of the state. And while some of you might argue that that’s not such a bad thing, it sort of points to how much of a buffer you have to give yourself.
There are some decent points to be made about having those who live in particularly high risk areas carry more of their own risk. Currently there’s no risk premium for living close to the coast, and homeowner’s insurance statewide carries the increased risk for hurricanes. I don’t know what the right answer is, though, so I’m not going to scream my bloody head off about it until I hear more discussion.
Darrell, I don’t ordinarily say anything at all to you, but you’re not doing yourself any favors on this thread; you might want to consider giving it a rest.
goonie bird
Buricrats they are the biggist problem around they want you to sign numerous papers and wait for months or years for something simple wait till yoi die to get a building permit then reject your permit becuase a endangered bug was found on your property. Would,nt you just like to have them all wearing KICK ME signs on them?
Scott
Here we go again with the Dauphin Island bashing…
I just thought I would mention two things before everyone gets so bent out of shape about rebuilding Dauphin Island. First, the Flood insurance program is NOT subsidized by taxpayer dollars. In fact, it actually does have a fairly huge SURPLUS. However, like all surpluses that are garnerned by the government, this money is undoubtedly swiftly used for other programs. Thus, when a big flood disaster comes along (like Katrina), that money has already been spent, and people feel like they are “bailing out” the flood victims when they actually are not. I’ll point you to the NFIP website. Notice the last paragraph that mentions that the program is entirely self-sustaining and that all payouts are done with premiums collected from other policyholders and not “the taxpayers.”
http://www.fema.gov/nwz03/nwz03_101.shtm
Second, professor Scott Douglass, a noted coastal engineer has written a book called “Saving America’s Beaches.” In it, he explains that most of the coastal erosion that takes place is actually the result of man-made interventions like jetties and dredging practices. In the case of Dauphin Island, what is going on is that the Corps of Engineers has been dredging Mobile Bay and dumping the sand that they collect far out into the Gulf of Mexico. This sand is what has, for generations, nourished (naturally) the beaches on Dauphin Island. It has been estimated that this practice has resulted in the loss of close to a football field’s worth of sand on Dauphin Island over the last several decades. This is really not in dispute. If this sand had been there, as it should have, then hurricanes would not have done near the damage to Dauphin Island that you are reading about.