Evacuate the Coasts - For Good

 

  Before humans arrived on the scene nearly 100,000 years ago, the earth experienced climatic changes at somewhat regular intervals.  Ice sheets expanded and melted, droughts and floods ravaged landscapes, and hurricane frequencies and intensities waned and ebbed.  Climatic changes caused some species to be obliterated into extinction while others thrived under the new conditions.  Simply put – life has always revolved around <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Darwin’s survival of the fittest. 

 

  As the first modern humans came onto the scene, they, like their ancestors, learned where to place their villages, camps and houses by trial and error.  For example Thag, the Neanderthal, decided to place his fire pit next to a mammoth he had killed earlier in the day.  Before the mammoth died it ran into a narrow ravine with a dry wash meandering through the bottom.  Thag didn’t have satellites to shoot pictures of the approaching storm front, nor did he have a television to warn him of the danger.  As Thag fell asleep, the rain from the distant storm was already filling the upper wash.  The log and boulder-choked water quickly filled the ravine Thag was occupying, washing him downstream to his death.  From that experience Thag’s family learned not to camp in ravine bottoms anymore.

 

  Today, nearly half of the U.S. population lives on the Gulf Coast and southeastern shores, which is in a way that same dry wash.  Every now and then, a hurricane blows in on a breeze from the Atlantic or Caribbean, and washes or blows everything away.  People are warned of the approaching storm days or even weeks before its arrival, yet people still die.  Did Thag’s “don’t camp in the ravine” gene not make it down the DNA chain to everyone??  

 

  I understand the fact that people love the beach and warmer climates.  I live in Idaho where the winter temperatures hover around 35 degrees.  There is nothing better than a mid-winter’s visit to a warmer area; however, I steer clear of the Caribbean and Gulf Coast during the late summer months due to the potential for hurricane activity.  If I know this, and I don’t live anywhere near the southern coasts, why don’t the people who live in hurricane prone areas understand this constant threat? 

 

  Why do I even care?  Let me explain.  Each time a hurricane, or even a strong tropical storm lands on southeastern shores or the Gulf Coast area, wind or storm surge damage occurs.  In the past, insurance companies paid for homes and businesses to be rebuilt, and the government helped where needed.  Today, the population density, along with storm frequency and intensities, is much higher.  Insurance companies are going broke, or not insuring homes at all in storm prone areas.  When insurance companies can’t pay for the damage, the U.S. government steps in and funds the incredible costs (up to billions of dollars) to repair the storm-stricken areas.  If the insurance companies understand that the risk outweighs the potential profit, why wouldn’t the government see the same thing?  Why keep spending U.S. tax payer dollars to rebuild cities and towns that will inevitably fall to another hurricane down the road? 

 

  Instead, what the government should think about doing is imposing the rules of eminent domain.  The government could, over a course of several years, use the money that is spent on  rebuilding homes and cities, and instead offer to buy properties within 1-2 miles of the coastline, from North Carolina to Brownsville, Texas.  As the properties are purchased, the houses could either be moved inland or torn down.  All coastlines could be returned to pristine wetlands and natural areas, which would ultimately protect inland areas from storm surge.  Wind mills could also be erected off the coasts to take advantage of the sea breezes, producing much needed, pollution-free energy. 

 

  Of course there are many who would resist such a request.  A compromise of moving only a mile or so inland would be out of the questions for those who “must” live on the beach.  This is where the homeowner decides to gamble with nature, or really think realistically about their options.  Anyone who decides to stay in their home, and lives within one mile, or whatever distance is deemed necessary for the area, will not be rescued by U.S. tax dollars.  You will be on your own, and should you need rescuing from local emergency personnel, you will be responsible for those fees as well.  If you moved beyond the 1-2 mile safety area, and you still suffered damage, then your insurance company and the government would step in. 

 

  I feel the same should apply to those who build their homes in known flood zones along rivers, as well as those who build their houses in fire-prone foothill areas.  The government is constantly bailing people out of situations that can be avoided.  I mean look at New Orleans - the Thag gene was definitely not passed down to the genius who decided to build a city in a bowl, below sea level, in a hurricane prone area.  Let’s use the same ingenuity that got us to the moon, and plain common sense to rethink our plans for the future of our coastlines and governmental checkbook.