Reply #1: Actually you should put more criticism at the Feds [View All]

Most insurance companies won't insure a home that's built near the ocean shore, especially in the southeastern U.S.
If they do the premiums the owner would pay would be stratospheric. Private insurance corps won't insure against floods anyway even if the home is in some landlocked state.

What other option is there for a dwelling or structure built on the shoreline in a hurricane zone? Eureka! F.E.M.A. Flood Insurance! The one type insurance that someone can afford to insure a structure in hurricane alley.

Federal Flood Insurance has been the subject of a great deal of criticism, especially in regards to insuring beach and coastal homes on the southeastern US. A beach home gets destroyed by hurricane storm surge and FFI rebuilds the home multiple times. The argument is that the Flood Insurance program encourages the destruction and building on coastal habitats and environs like beaches, dune areas, marshes, deltas and tributaries thus disrupting fisheries, nesting bird habitat. Septic systems usually used to service these homes leach into the water body close by and cause pollution. Destruction of dunes. Aside from that the people who live in these homes think the can close off access to the shore from the rest of the public. Many coastal states have legal provisions that guarantee access of the seashore to the general public even in the vicinity of private homes.

It has been suggested by some that FEMA Flood Insurance should stop insuring any structures in the hurricane zone entirely arguing that once that is done the over-development of coastal areas will be seriously inhibited or stopped.