Originally Posted By: chaosmagnet
The single biggest thing the government could do to mitigate storm damage would be to stop writing new National Flood Insurance Plan policies. People would stop being incented to build in places that are getting flooded.


This is the top, #1 thing that has to happen. So long as people are allowed to build in flood plains and buy insurance for a pittance we will keep building in flood plains. We need to completely remove the incentive to do this by pegging their premium to the actual risk and losses. About 50% of the money paid out goes to about 3% of homes that are continually being rebuilt. I recall one home that's been completely destroyed and rebuilt by insurance 18 times! Stop building in foolish places!

Next we have to fortify coastal areas and improve building codes.

Lastly we have to put everything we have into efforts to curb anthropogenic climate change. It's going to keep getting worse and worse if we maintain the present course.
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“I'd rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” —Richard Feynman