Not picking on you, but this is a perfect example of the coastal bias in CA.
We get flash floods in my town/neighborhood every time there is a particularly strong rainstorm. I only live 30 miles from the coast. We don’t have flood insurance, so the time our backyard flooded and the water actually got into our bedroom and ruined the carpet, we had to pay to replace it out of our pocket.
It’s kind of ironic, since insurance companies are cancelling homeowners insurance policies out here left and right due to fire danger. I wonder what they’d say if we applied for flood insurance?
River flooding is a huge thing in large parts of the country, and includes a lot of middle class and low income housing. Climate change has made 500 year rainstorms that cause huge river floods a twice a decade experience. Most human settlements that haven’t been on the coast over time have been on rivers. If you buy your house on the coast, you should at least assume the risk of hurricanes. But in a lot of places, low lying areas around rivers that were historically not in flood zones now suddenly are, because of climate change. You have middle class people who have owned homes for decades or even generations who suddenly can’t get flood insurance for a home where flooding was never an issue in the past. The solution isn’t simple.
Population differences are also an important factor when comparing states. In Figure 7-3, states are ranked according to their annual average damage per capita during 1983-1999, giving a quite different picture than the ranking by total damage in Figure 7-2(b). North Dakota moves to the top, with a whopping $363 damage per person per year (mostly attributable to flooding in 1997), while California slips to 25th place.
Yes, and per capita CA is 25th ranked. Property values are double the national average, which maybe cancels as people pay more for insurance and get bigger payouts? Dunno. But per capita CA is not particularly high and doesn’t seem like it’s subsidized. And Washington isn’t. Should we look at Oregon or should everyone just say that I’m right already?
Yep. We subsidize flood insurance for their muilti million dollar homes and renourish their beaches when they get washed away, and they still try to close access to the beaches to the public. Being rich should qualify as a mental health disorder.
In my local community, providing dumpsters, portapotties, and hand washing stations has not improved the homeless situation.
I had written to our city council a few years ago suggesting they put out dumpsters in that area to help with trash and debris. The city actually did it but the area looks worse than before.
