Oddbean

9. Do you have homeowners insurance? Because your insurance rates are going to go way, way up. Or, the insurers may refuse to insure anyone in the region at all. Does it matter that your house didn't flood? Nope. 10. Flooding picks up every contaminant from sewage to chemicals to PCBS and dumps them everywhere. Even if you didn't flood, your soil may now be contaminated, your water may not be safe for weeks, & you may be dealing with chemical aftereffects for years...

11. You probably live in your town for a reason - the great schools, the friendly neighbors, the cute little downtown, or the great city resources, the awesome library, the low taxes. Now, the flood comes. Half your neighbors houses were flooded, and now they have mold and long term damage. They have to move out, move away. The houses can't be sold, because no one wants the remediation problem. So now your street has six empty houses on it. Half the businesses were flooded. The first week they all say they will rebuild, but a lot won't - they'll move away. Empty storefronts. Oh, and look, the wing in the school where your kid gets speech services flooded, and now there's no speech for six months. 12. Your property values will be impacted for a decade or more. Your beautiful, dry house on a hill just lost half its value, because even though your house is dry, no one wants to buy in a disaster zone. Hopefully, now you aren't underwater...on your mortgage...

I get it. NO ONE WANTS TO THINK IT CAN HAPPEN TO THEM. But it absolutely can. You can pick the most perfect place, where you hope you will not be impacted by X or Y #disaster and it will still happen. Because this extreme #weather is something different. And it is only going to get worse."