Sandy should make us re-think things

Be careful in your assumptions.  There is no place in the US that is safe from disaster.  Floods hit rivers too.  Tornadoes don't care where you live.  Forest fires, earthquakes, mudslides and volcanoes.  You think there are million dollar homes in Hoboken?  The whole city is underwater.  How about Joplin Missouri in 2010?  How about the drought this year in Texas?  How about the 9th Ward in New Orleans after Katrina?

 

My neighborhood was destroyed in the Blizzard of '78 by the ocean and my parents were definitely not rich.  Some of the water front properties were owned by wealthy folks, but most of us who lost homes were blue collar.  There was no tax payer funded bailout for my parents as you suggest.  My parents had to take out loans to rebuild and they paid far more into the flood insurance than they ever got back.  It set them back years.

 

The same will apply to almost all the people who have lost homes in this storm.  State and Federal dollars will rebuild infrastructure, but that is about it.  The insurance companies will nickle and dime their customers to nervous breakdowns.  I have lived it.

 

You have found isolated examples that do not apply to most all of the people affected.  

Not sure I would agree that the coastline is in more danger.  There are plenty of places that have routine repeat disasters like earthquake zones and tornado alley.  The western US is constantly under threat for forest fires.

 

The coast and rivers have always been centers of population due to transport on the ocean.  All of our major cities started either with a great harbor or on a navigable river.  New Orleans is a prime example because they have access to both.  The Netherlands is below sea level in a majority of their land and they are also the number 1 port for Europe.  People live there because there are jobs and trade routes.

Truer words were never spoken. We had 2 major earthquakes over 2 years ago About 20,000 homes will be pulled down and thousands more need repair. Things are still a wreck and the insurance companies are still not talking to people. I fought for over a year to have my water main repaired and only this week have seen someone from the government about repairing my home.

Disasters can hit anyone at any time living anywhere.

there are tons of million dollar homes in hoboken...... not that it is very relevant. just saying as i live there.

Got one simple question for you dak4n6: Are all of the the workers the millionaires have to pay to rebuild their homes millionaires too?

 

I thought the relevance was pretty obvious. Millionaires rarely build their homes themselves.

 

 

I don't think you are correct in your assumption that most people who live by the coast are wealthy. These are communities Near the water, not just vacation homes or retirement homes.

Exactly This!!! 

 

On Long Island, the majority of people that live close to the water are at best upper middle class, not wealthy.  Most of these people bought houses on the water long before it was the "wealthy" thing to do because they were fisherman or clammers and owning a home on the water was the most cost effective way to dock your boat.  

 

Go take a ride down on the south shore of Long Island, such as Bayshore, Lindenhurst and Amityville and see how many wealthy people you find sorting through what's left of their lives. 

 

Quote:

Lindenhurst was on the news a lot. It looked terrible, and like you said, it's not a wealthy place.

I have family in long beach, I imagine it's expensive to buy property there now, but it wasn't 45 years ago when they moved there. They found 2 feet of standing water when they got back, looks like it had gotten up to 4ft at the worst.

That's not to say that we should learn from this and protect these communities better or fundamentally change settlement patterns. I think Bloomberg said something along those lines. But I don't think this is an issue of the poor subsidizing the rich.

I grew up in Lindenhurst, most of my family still lives there.  My parents home in 1975 cost $13,000.  As you said most people that live there have lived there for most of their lives and very few would be classified as rich.  Long Beach was hit hard too, on top of the flooding and wind damage their water supply was contaminated. 

 

Lindenhurst was on the news a lot because it was hit so hard by flooding.  It's sad, this week I've seen houses burned down to the ground because water was so deep the fire trucks couldnt make it to the house, and contents of peoples houses washed across all the streets.  Now the flooded areas are without power and gas.  These people are forced to stay with their home in pretty cold tempertures so they can run their generators to keep the water out of their basements but they can't heat their house.  While many on Long Island expect power back by Monday, those close to the shore that had their power and gas lines shut down will be lucky if they get them back by Thanksgiving.       

I have to say I agree with this, at least to a certain extent. I have two uncles that live on Long Island, one in Cutchogue, the other in Oakdale (they moved there, as newtogolf mentioned, because they own an old boat and have it docked along a canal right in their backyard). Neither family is wealthy at all, but the one in Oakdale's backyard is under water and his first floor is flooded, and the other's neighborhood flooded so bad that they couldn't drive out of it (the roads that lead out of it are bridged at some spots, and the bridges are under water). Those are just anecdotes, of course.

alls i know is, George Bush doesnt care about black people...