CALIFORNIA FIRES, NEW ORLEANS HURRICANES, NOREASTER STORMS

CALIFORNIA FIRES, NEW ORLEANS HURRICANES, NOREASTER STORMS Oct 25, 2007

SOME HOMES JUST SHOULDN'T BE BUILT ! ! !

The costs of the Southern California fires fueled by Santa Ana winds, lack of rain and low humidity are still being tabulated: 500,000 to 1,000,000 residents evacuated, over $1,000,000,000+ (billion) in property damage, 8 people dead, untold wild animals (deer, rabbits, horses, squirrels, snakes etc) dead, firefighter and public safety salaries, federal and state aid and the other emotional costs still aren't known - what is known is that these are preliminary estimates - it will be months before total costs are finally tabulated.

Now the reconstruction must begin, BUT - with restrictions. State, local and federal regulators must protect the public from itself to ensure that the general public welfare is protected.
New zoning laws are needed to prevent people from building homes and businesses in the path of known potential danger areas.

No more homes built in fire prone areas with little of no means of acess or fire protection.
No more homes built on cliffs subject to landslides.
No more homes built in the bottom of a fish bowl (New Orleans) with water lapping at the top of the bowl.
No more homes built on the 'Outer Banks' (Carolina's) where seasonal storms destroy homes in the path of destructive storms.

Each year ice fishermen go out onto the Great Lakes or some small inland lake with their shanties looking to enjoy the sport, disregarding the depth of the ice - and who end up on slowly melting and drifting ice flows or in the water. The US Coast Guard or local sheriffs are called out, every year to risk their lives for people who placed themselves in harms way, - NOW is the time to say ENOUGH.

Governmental officials must think of the overall public good and safety, failure to do so now - would be a crime.

If government fails the public - then it is left to the insurance industry to raise premimums on homes and businesses, in known danger areas, so high and prohibitively costly, that only fools or excessively stupid rich people can afford them.