Could Florida Survive the Big One?
a series of studies have made it clear that if the Big One or even a Pretty Big One strikes, Florida is going to have very serious problems. The state-run insurance firm and the Catastrophe Fund have just a few billion dollars on hand, so a major storm would force both entities to float massive bond issues in an unfavorable market, and to make up their shortfalls through gigantic assessments on policyholders. A House committee recently warned that the state would have "extreme difficulty paying its obligations" after a 100-year storm, and that premiums on nearly every property, car and business could skyrocket. A report for the state Office of Insurance Regulation found that even a 50-year storm would cause extreme financial stress, especially given the current credit crunch. Industry actuaries say the problem is simple: Florida's insurance rates, high as they may be, are not high enough for a state with an estimated 25% of America's high-risk property. Reinsurance rates are soaring, and private insurers like State Farm and Allstate have scaled back in Florida, forcing an additional 500,000 customers into the state pool. "For some areas in Florida, insurance companies could not obtain reinsurance at any price," Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty recently told Congress. And last year, Republican Governor Charlie Crist pushed through reforms to decrease premiums, a politically popular move that will create even more pressure if disaster strikes. "I get the concerns," Crist recently told me. "But we're not going to stand for gouging." That's why Crist and just about every other Florida politician is pushing for a national catastrophe insurance fund, which would shift some of that risk to federal taxpayers. But the idea is not so popular with other states, for the obvious reason that other states don't have as much risk. Florida has spent the last 80 years ignoring its vulnerability, developing its floodplains and shorelines, selling the dream of the Sunshine State to northerners and foreigners. But the day of reckoning will come. http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080907/us_time/couldfloridasurvivethebigone Fools like Lars live there by choice so when the big one hits they want to shift their irresponsibility onto the rest of the country when their condos are floating in the Atlantic. I don't think so. You choose to live down there. YOU pay the price.

Yeah, pretty much. Also California. FEMA pretty much exists to subsidize these two large states; they have a lot of electoral votes, so naturally they get huge subsidies from everybody else to keep up their stupid choices in places to live.

Throw New Orleans into that mix... Living here in the big Shakey is one thing. But to live below sea level, next to the ocean??? Sounds like truck driving school condidates if there ever were any!

Actually, comparing FEMA's abysmal and criminal performance in the Katrina aftermath compared to it's regular performances in Cali and Floriduh pretty much confirms it's a very selective welfare program for just a couple of favored states.

FEMA only ran into a problem in the most corrupt city in the most corrupt state in the country.

Somebody has to take care of the 80 million visitors each year. In the last 10 years one of my condos got some minor damage from a hurricane, but that is all. What the geographically challenged and generally ignorant fail to consider, is that a hurricane will not hit the entire state all at once. The biggest problem is the Republican politicians who devised the current system, but still caved in to the insurance companies in the end. I bought my insurance from a smaller Florida based company at a good discount and that company weathered the recent hurricanes in good shape because they operate smarter than most of the big companies. They will only insure a set dollar amount in each zip code. But have fun with your dooms day fantasies. Florida has survived more hurricanes than any other state and will continue to do so, in spite of weak Republicans like Charlie Crist.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0919femacleveland2,0,2424075.story :lol:

Yep, that one's funny. So is the story about the generator reimbursment program in the ritzy Florida zip code area.

nobody has any fear of getting caught anymore for anything, it's just steal and swindle and play the system.

Actually property insurance costs in Florida are quite high, which those who have some real knowledge are well aware of and there is no doubt that the most corrupt state is Mississippi, where most of the federal hurricane damage aid has been stolen by Haley Barbour and his gang. Many people in the interior of Florida complained bitterly about having to "subsidize" insurance since they thought they were not as exposed as the coastal regions. Until they were. But just because few of you can afford to come to Florida to visit, enough others do, so it can't be as bad as some of you wish it to be. Parts of Texas is about to find out all about hurricane damage. Let's see how well they deal with that. I suspect it will be a scam artist paradise afterwards. The strict licensing requirements in Florida keeps that to a minimum. In Texas, if you call yourself a contractor, you are one.

Zigzag finally gets one right...... "....it's just steal and swindle and play the system." Also known as the "free" market. People, like me, who rail at the injustice of it all, are just poor saps who fell for the 'play nice-crap'... Who's going to pay for the stupidity foisted on the world if the Republicans are handed the next 4 years of government??? .

Also known as the "free" market You trying to be funny??? Never has been a "free market", never will be. And to be quite frank, a truly "free market" would be fatalism at work. Rules, regulations, and restrictions are necessary. It would be like driving on the highways without any traffic laws.