| Factors other than climate change dominate in Houston: a) Houston was built on a mosquito- and disease-ridden swamp that settlers drained: http://news.tfionline.com/post/164819904697/the-trouble-with... b) Parts of Houston are sinking due to subsidence: water is being removed and the land above sinks. 3-10 feet doesn't seem to be a lot until the wave hits your front door: http://blogs.nbc12.com/weather/2017/08/houstons-flooding-its... c) Private developers have very short-term goals: they buy cheap lowland, build homes on it, and sell them in good weather at high prices. Once they're sold out, the developers' obligations cease and the problem passes to local authorities and FEMA. FEMA should not sell insurance for areas likely to flood. [well, they don't, but they need to extend the no-sell areas even further] The cities, counties and state have power to ban development in low-lying regions but are susceptible to fraud and bribery. Developers are very wealthy men who are politically connected. Homebuyers are like sheep: naive and herd-like. They aren't very wise politically. I know someone in Houston whose house has been flooded seven times. Last year he bought no flood insurance. He's out of a house but expects some governmental entity to buy him out. For him its a way of life; for me, a flood is "nature's way of telling you something's wrong": "Nature's Way" - Spirit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V0Vu_utUZY |