Emergency relief should NEVER have pork attached, 2/3's of that bill was pork. If it was only 10-20% over what they needed in pork it would probably have passed.
I agree with Swampman also, because before the 1960's no one build on the beachs in Florida. They built further inland on higher ground. Houses were built with hurricane windows, tar and gravel roofs, or metal roofs, concrete block homes, etc to resist wind and rain damage, but no flooding. Everyone could go to almost any beach and enjoy it as it was almost pristine. On the other hand, homes built on beaches in Florida can resist up to a cat 3 hurricane. They are on pole stilts so surges can go under the homes. Framing has metal brackets installed to hold the wood together. Exterior walls have solid plywood behind them, not particle or chip boards. Windows have actual working shutters. Roofs are metal or tar and gravel. They usually sell for about $1 million each. I have rented one for my whole family to use since some homeowners rent them out by the week. Kind of expensive, but the one we rented had 5 large bedrooms with multiple beds, 4-1/2 baths, kitchen, pool (fresh water) heated, deck it was on poles. Adult family members would chip in to pay the rent (a week was about $2,500), but for 3-4 families sharing, it is actually cheaper than a motel. Also two-3 couches in living room folded out into beds. Chairs were recliners. Teens usually crashed on these. Adult couples in bedrooms. Cars usually park underneath the homes like a carport, but can get washed away in a hurricane if someone stays there.
In the Northeast which gets very few hurricanes, homes are not built this way. Florida has learned its lesson over several years. Trailer parks are the ones most recently damaged the most, like Andrew. Florida is gradually zoning out trailer parks except further inland. New Orleans weathered Katrina, but the levie broke and caused the flooding. They all had plenty of time to evacuate, but 50,000 was waiting for the government to save them.
Any build back in the northeast should be similar to what Florida has done since Andrew. Get rid of low homes near beaches and build them wind proof. Last hurricane at Galveston, only one home survived on the and it was built to modern standards.
