Katrina renews calls for change in rebuilding rules

…Katrina’s impact here and in other beach communities on the Gulf Coast has revitalized a debate over whether federal, state and local governments should do more to discourage rebuilding in areas particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding.

The magnitude of Katrina’s destruction


Such efforts, though, have foundered, largely over resistance from developers and politicians who fear that such changes would stem coastal development and the revenue it brings, says Oliver Houck, an environmental law professor at Tulane University.

Meantime, thanks to government help, “You’d be a fool not to live on the beach,” he says. “We’re building highways to them, causeways to them, sewage-treatment plants to them. We’re paying their (flood) insurance to live there.”

In risky areas, many homeowners enjoy artificially low flood insurance rates