Forbes Magazine: Don't Rebuild The Florida Keys

Hurricane Irma destroyed a large part of the Florida Key - 100 miles ribbon of low-membrane islands connected to the bridge of South Florida. The key was dense with the properties of tourist resorts and the beach, when it landed as the first class 4 storm then took full tilt of the storm. It has been estimated that 25% of the 50,000 households in the key were destroyed, and 65 percent had suffered large losses.

In the coming weeks, the property owner will scramble to assess the full scope of the damage. Probably fortunate to insure, the rebuilding will probably begin. Inauspicious uninsured can sell their land and leave, and wealthy entrants are sure to jump on the opportunity to buy beach property on this prestigious strip.

There is a problem in this enthusiasm to develop the islands again: The next storm is like the waterfront of Southern Florida - the ducks are sitting, they have been devastated in the past by major storms, and will be flattened again with greater frequency in the future. . They are not a characteristic of human habitation. In essence, the key should not be rebuilt.

A subtle depiction of the stupidity of the development of obstacle islands comes from the story of Little Dufin Island on the banks of Alabama. This island is home to 1300 inhabitants and many tourist rental houses. It has been troubled by about a dozen storms since 1979. Every time, the government rebuilds at large, a serial money-generating enterprise whose cost is more than $ 150 million in advance.

I know that after a natural calamity, there is something completely American leaving the border land. That is why it is very certain that the politicians will provide grand announcements about the duty of the government-and the risk of tampering for fundamental fund-reconstruction. It's fine that what happened after Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, and it will be again: heavy public money for rebuilding

This is very likely, however, if left on their own devices, the owner of the existing property of several keys will move forward somewhere. They take insurance money and buy houses from severe weather. But this transfer is not going to happen in Florida because the government pays to stay people. how? By subsidizing your insurance premium, both federal and state programs use taxpayer's money to make artificially cheap to stay in the key.

State of Florida - Through a state-owned insurance company-all help owners of their home to take advantage of insurance against the loss of air. Of course, those living inland (usually less prosperous) do not need subsidy and they are less prone to high winds and insurance is already cheap. Coastal residents are the big beneficiaries of subsidy, and nowhere is more than the key 'Monroe County'. Similarly, the federal government helps all the homeowners in low grounds to buy insurance against the loss of the flood, but to live again People with no need and they do not get subsidies because they rarely get access to the storm