High Water leads to Slippery Slope

[Alluvial]

Originally Posted by classicman

Like New Orleans?

IMO a big problem with NoLa is that the land is subsiding. Sure, we could put fill dirt in, or raise buildings, but that would just eventually sink too. So, mitigation there is quite problematic. (I looove that smiley !!)

From a coldly logical standpoint, the port and associated warehouse district are the only necessary things in NoLa. People other than those manning the port & appurtenances don't have a necessity to live there. (Mind you, I'm not suggesting that everyone flee the city).

From a social standpoint, the city is very rich in history and has a lot of cultural significance for the United States. It is irreplacable in that respect.

There are many historical areas in a similar pickle. As Bruce mentioned, people tend to congregate and build around rivers. How do we preserve history and heritage while at the same time promoting better floodplain management? Tough decisions.

Zen, the phenomenon you mention has been a hot topic of discussion in the industry. What happened is that developers were attracted to floodplain lands sorta by default - because the land was cheaper. In effect, the creation of the NFIP and publishing of the flood zone maps made it possible for those developers to make a good living from building things in the floodplain. Today's homebuyer isn't as savvy about what constitutes a 'good building site' as folks in more agrarian days were, and is often completely unaware of nearby flooding sources and the risks of building there.

One small correction: the NFIP isn't subsidized by the government. The NFIP is funded solely by flood insurance premiums.

The National Flood Insurance Program is premium funded and has been operating in the black for years. It has the authority to borrow up to 1.5 billion dollars from the U.S. Treasury, however, all such funds much be repaid with interest.

From here.