A lot of discussion lately on what the Federal Government should pay for.
So the question is should the Fed's help pay for things like hurricane damage?
I have mixed emotions. If you build where you know you are going to get hit why should I help you do it again?
On the other hand you could look at it as just bad luck.

 

There are times when things are completely catastrophic like Andrew or Camille where the only the Federal Government has the capability to help but most of the time people need to be responsible for their own property.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-ignore-warnings-Hurricane-Matthew-hits.html

 

Americans are pretty generous about helping their neighbors through a crisis, and we want our government to generally reflect that generosity and help.

But I think we also expect individuals to not make overly stupid decisions, and we expect the government to help people avoid obvious dangers by designating flood plains and such.

When if ever should aid be withheld, on grounds of making people responsible for the consequences of their choices? Tough call.

 

Floods in the mid west, hurricanes in the south and east, earthquakes in California, tsunami in Hawaii,. There are others that I didn't list.

Every time one hits, the discussion gets around to whether or not the event gets federalized.

Someday ... But the insurance lobby will fight it.

 

Every place you build a house on the surface of the planet has associated risks. If it were possible to quantify those risks I doubt there would be much buildable land left to worry about. Besides the freedom loving individuals and iconoclasts would scream bloody murder about the nanny state telling them what they can and can't do. It is cheaper to just let 'em do what they want and help them out when they get knocked down. Besides it makes 'em grateful for something.

PS -- Iv'e lived in Seattle, Buffalo, Dayton, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, Princeton, Ann Arbor, and Marion County, FL without a single home having been destroyed for any reason. Maybe I'm just lucky, and I don't begrudge a single dollar of disaster aid distributed over my lifetime.

 

These north poor homeowners deserve all the support the US government can give them. How would they know a hurricane would come some day. These poor people may not only lose their home in Huricane Matthew, but they deserve additional federal des aster relief support to get through the red tape that local authorities are using to block their rebuild again this year.