Doubts about climate change?

@Oster1 Or insurance companies not insurance those properties against sea level rising?

@Oster1 They are worried. You haven't been paying attention. For example, drainage planning has changed considerably due to increased rainfall intensity. What was a one in 25-year storm in 1970 is a one in 10-year storm in many areas. You better believe that impacts culvert design, for example. And insurance companies have raised the price of flood insurance considerably to reflect higher risks.

@MrBrownstone This is my point! I'm in this business, along with oher metrics. I'm so tired of hearing this crap. These people, have no idea, what they are talking about!

@Oster1 People like to live near water, and will continue to as long as they can. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Insurance Administration stopped providing some federal flood insurance way back in the late 1970s and early 1980s because people were rebuilding in the same areas and collecting payments every couple of years. The federal government certainly takes climate change into account, and mandated taking it into account on federal projects until Trump removed that provision. It may have been reinstated by now, but I haven't heard about it. Even ExxonMobil and other oil companies takes it into account on their projects. Prudent businesses have done so for several decades now.

@windinhishair Ergo, why does development continue?

@Oster1 The simple answer is it shouldn't, and taxpayers should not subsidize bad development decisions. Areas that will be subject to tidal flooding, as in certain areas of Miami, should be evacuated and closed now. The sooner we do so, the better for everyone.

@windinhishair You are speaking emotionally, not Planning Dept., language.

@Oster1 Planning departments will increase flood protection including barriers and pumping, but those are just stopgaps. We're not going to be able to protect many areas from the impacts of climate change. That's just reality. The temporary fixes will become cost-prohibitive eventually, and these areas will either be abandoned or filled in to maintain elevation above mean sea level.

@Oster1 facts and opinion don't = emotionally

@windinhishair You know, I hearted you, not because of Climate Change, but more a lack of foresite, of fuure needs and lack of investment, of Public Utilities. I'm a fair man, and agree wih you.

@Oster1 That's fine. I always heart you when I agree with you, which is as it should be.

@windinhishair Don't gloat.When I was on City Council, I witnessed a whole neighborhood, wiped out, by one faulty storm drain. 34 houses. I never forgot that! It still haunts me, to this day!

I'm a businessman, involved in many endeavors, some three generations.

This is why, someimes, I get so upset. I have witnessed people, working so hard and giving back, to their community.

@Oster1 Who's gloating? If you are correct you are correct. Nothing more or less.

I did flood modeling for the FIA and storm drainage design for years and have personally seen the changes necessitated to infrastructure by climate change. Some areas have done a better job than others in taking care of their citizens. It bothers me when a city like Houston allowed thousands of homes to be built INSIDE a large drainage berm in Northwest Houston, because it had never been needed before. When the area received 56 inches of rain a few years ago, exceeding the Probable Maximum Precipitation, the entire area flooded and turned into a lake for weeks. That was what it was designed for, after all.

Ever heard of Indianola? It was the largest city on the Texas Gulf Coast after the Civil War, and a significant port, larger than Galveston, Houston, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, or Beaumont. It was hit by a major hurricane in 1875, rebuilt, and destroyed by another hurricane and fire in 1886. It was never rebuilt and it is now a ghost town on Matagorda Bay. It was in a poor location to begin with. Now that we should know more due to better science, we are making the same mistakes with Galveston. That city was completely flooded and destroyed in 1900 with over 6,000 dead. Now there are over 50,000 people there, and the last time I checked there were only two routes off the island. WHEN that area takes another direct major hurricane hit, there will be another massive death toll, because you can't evacuate people quickly enough. Those are the kind of scenarios that keep planners up at night and make people justifiably upset.