[ClassicOrgin]

I was looking to move to Fort Myers or Fort Myers Shores with my girlfriend (she’s originally from there), and we looked at five different houses. Based on damage maps/satellite photos/Facebook posts all five of those houses were flooded. But, the problem is only two of them were in any sort of flood zones. The only reason we didn’t buy is because it looked like the market was tanking. I think there is a lot of blaming going on here against homeowners who really didn’t know better. FEMA really needs to update their maps to account for more catastrophic storms like this. It’s also important to keep in mind this storm could have been a lot worse. It was “only” a Category 4.

[mannykannot]

There is a lot of political pressure from the owners and sellers of property, among other interests, to minimize the information.

In NYC, after Sandy, a new map with vastly expanded zones was published. Within a day or two, it was replaced with one with significantly reduced zones. I don't know that this was in response to political pressure...

[duped]

I'm pretty sure flood zones don't account for hurricane storm surge. That describes regular seasonal flooding risk.

If you want a map of areas likely to be damaged by hurricanes in the next 10/20/50 years then it's basically the entire coast of Florida.

[time_to_smile]

> I think there is a lot of blaming going on here against homeowners who really didn’t know better.

Anyone who is keeping up on climate change research and anyone with any sense knows it's just not wise to invest in property on the Florida coast unless you do so knowing that at anytime your home could be washed away.

You have to be willfully ignorant to think it's a good idea to move to those areas.

I can see why you would want to move closer to family, but did you really not believe that the Fort Myers area could be destroyed at anytime from a major hurricane? Do you really think that sea level rise (which is more about its impact on storm surges) coupled with increasingly more powerful hurricanes is not a problem in the near term? Are you unaware that GHGs in the atmosphere are accelerating, there is no evidence that warming will stop soon, and plenty to suggest that things will increasingly get worse in the near term?

[jdhn]

It was a Cat 5 in all but name. Max winds were measured at 155 MPH, Cat 5 starts at 157 MPH wind speed.

[lotsofpulp]

So a cat 4 is a cat 5 in all but name? And a cat 5 is a cat 6 in all but name?

[jdhn]

Don't be obtuse. This was 2 MPH away from being a "weak" Cat 5.

[random42_]

Or we can say that this was a strong cat 4 instead.

[dougmwne]

Well that’s lucky, otherwise you might have ended up underwater on your loan.