Hurricane victims: blame yourselves

By Ned Andrews

JESSICA KANG

Ever since the days of Sir Walter Raleigh, June through October has been "hurricane season" for the residents of the Southeast. Far more recently, however, another pattern has developed. As the media belabors each storm, it raises to national consciousness the damage done to coastal communities, and the government in its self-righteous, exhibitionist "compassion" is always there to pick up the pieces. The only piece still missing from the puzzle is logic.

As victims clamor for relief from something they "had no idea was going to happen," our response should be, "Well, you should have." These people know the risks they are taking by choosing to live where they do. Like a certain other natural phenomenon, hurricanes happen, and they're about as predictable. Not only do we have a name for "hurricane season," it lasts five months out of the year. When there isn't one on top of you, there's another brewing off the coast of the Antilles. Moving into or translocating within the region should be viewed as a conscious and voluntary consent to any natural disasters that might occur there. For those who have some reason to stay, such as an attachment to relatives or to a job, they must decide whether it's worth it. If it is, they should be willing to pay the price.

On a similar note, what's the purpose of governors declaring states of emergency for hurricanes? If this keeps up, Governor James Hodges of South Carolina and Governor George Hunt of North Carolina will have to declare a "state of normalcy." These perpetual emergencies are merely excuses to get money from Washington, override spending limits, and otherwise overstep the bounds of legitimate authority. Even National Public Radio has said such declarations are used "in order to receive federal funds." That's right: these are emergencies for hire. A true emergency is something you don't know is going to happen, like an earthquake. There's no "earthquake season," except in California, where it lasts all year long. You may have a few seismographs for about 24 hours notice, but that's about all the warning you get. With hurricanes, advance notice is so unnecessary it becomes irrelevant.

Personal irresponsibility and fiscal jury-rigging aside, why should all taxpayers of the coastal states, let alone the entire nation, be held accountable for the reckless disregard of a few? I have no hand in the decisions of people who build in or move to coastal areas. If, through our patronage, we indirectly encourage developers to build in these regions, they should pass on the cost of insurance or losses to the consumer, not to taxpayers. Then again, I realize that not everyone who builds in hurricane zones is a real estate tycoon. There are Carolinians and Floridians who must subsist in meager circumstances. Well, if the low-cost housing growth in my native Tennessee mirrors the rest of the nation, there are plenty of affordable places to move.

The solution to this problem is obvious. If you stop hurricane relief aid, residents of coastal areas will have no choice but to leave like they should have long ago. Once these areas are vacated, aid won't be necessary and people will start taking responsibility for their own behavior. As it stands now, every hurricane covered by the government serves to reinforce this addictive behavior, and the vicious cycle of dependency on taxpayer aid grows worse.

Ned Andrews is a freshman in Saybrook.

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