Two ways to build on the beach

The video coming out of Florida’s west coast is dramatic. The damage is horrific. There are whole communities where most houses are destroyed. 

Most, but not all. 

There are a few houses here and there that appear to have suffered minimal damage. Some of their neighbors have nothing but the slab left. So what happened?

Really good engineering and construction happened. It’s not magic to do it right. All it takes is a clear eyed assessment of the dangers then building accordingly. It’s an expensive process but if you’ve got the money it’s worth it. It’s especially worth it if you plan on weathering the storm. Then it could be the difference between life and death.

So what’s the other way to build on the beach? You build a shack using junk left over from the last hurricane. That way when the next storm knocks it all down you are only out about a hundred bucks. Since it’s a shack you know better than to try and weather any sort of hurricane in it. Fortunately, you don’t have much at risk so it’s easy to get out of Dodge. 

That probably makes a certain amount of sense, but forget about being allowed to do it. The people who write the building permits have an interest in nice big taxable buildings.

-Sixbears