Unbelievable. The Washington Post has this story today:
NEW ORLEANS -- By ones and twos, homeowners here are reinhabiting neighborhoods, even the most devastated ones, and many view their return as a triumph over adversity....After Katrina, teams of planners recommended that broad swaths of vulnerable neighborhoods be abandoned. Yet all areas of the city have at least some residents beginning to rebuild. With billions of dollars in federal relief for homeowners trickling in, more people are expected to follow.Moreover, while new federal guidelines call for raising houses to reduce the damage of future floods, most returning homeowners do not have to comply or are finding ways around the costly requirement, according to city officials....New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin (D) so far has favored allowing evacuees to inhabit their old neighborhoods as they wish.Mike Centineo, the city's building chief, said, "Legally and morally, we're doing the right thing," but he acknowledged that most returning homeowners are not raising their houses to meet the new flood guidelines.
Fine. You want to rebuild in such a way that you will get wiped out again, then you do it without federal aid. I don't want a dime of my money going to you. And if that money is going to get used so you can rebuild your home where it shouldn't be built, in a way that it shouldn't be built, so it can get destroyed yet again, then don't come crying to me for help next time. This is your chance to do it right. Either take advantage of it, or you're on your own next time. And the next time you'll deserve everything you get.
This is exactly why this sort of mass federal aid for rebuilding New Orleans (in George Bush's words) exactly as it was, is a mistake. More importantly, this is why federal flood "insurance", which insulates people who live in dangerous areas from the potential expense of living in those areas, is also a disaster.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in anyway.