I live in Florida in a neighborhood that survived 27" of rain several years ago and multiple hurricanes. To people around here, we heave a sigh of relief after each hurricane, but realize that every place has its weather and other cataclysmic events.

I don't like the taxpayer funding of this any more than you do, but disaster relief offends me less than other forms of looting and mooching like war mongering.

Perhaps most Gulchers are more concerned about the taxes stolen from us being
funneled to those who want to enslave us, e.g., via Ukraine and Afghanistan.

I agree, however, that much of the expenditure on hurricane emergencies are
encouraging more risky construction in hurricane prone areas.
This is an involuntary transfer of wealth from the lower classes to wealthy realtors
and developers who are almost certainly conspiring to encourage such wasteful,
counter-productive spending. This drives up the demand and prices for such
property and simultaneously increases tax revenues for conspiring state and
local governments.
Without such unconstitutional federal spending, buyers would have to consider
the very real risk of hurricane storm damages when contemplating purchase
of such properties.

Do we object to the federal funding of insurance in areas such as New Orleans and Florida and southern California which subsidizes the dangerous purchasing behavior of individuals in this area? Absolutely. Also consider "Tornado Alley" throughout the Midwest.

That being said, disaster relief is another matter, as it isn't as if we know when any of these things are going to happen or to whom. In reality, there are few areas which aren't at some risk from some natural disaster. And not everyone can live in the "minimal" risk areas, like the Nevada desert. ;)

Quite honestly, I’d rather see our tax dollars going to help “our own” than going overseas to prop up another peoples.

My small city cracked the Guiness Book of World Records in 1979 when we got 48 inches of rain in 24 hours. Our 18' underpasses had water over the top of them. 18 wheelers were the only vehicles that could wade through. I do not recall us receiving assistance from any governmental body and I'd have known about it. I gave tetanus shots to everyone in town I think. At least everyone who wanted one. I had 26 doctors standing by (volunteers). They took care of the sick and injured. People were creative. One lady couldn't get out of her home and she placed a small American flag upside down in her window. A knowledgeable police officer spotted it and called in help to evacuate her. People were on the roofs of their homes waiting for a boat to drive up and rescue them. My husband, at my suggestion, launched his 15 foot Cobia. He thought I was nuts when I told him to do this. He apologized later. He'd been off in the Army while I went through all the hurricanes. This wasn't even a hurricane. It was a system that stalled over our town. I didn't even get my feet wet. My new home was built in between two very large drainage ditches (one on each side of the subdivision. I noticed that when I purchased the house.

If that hurricane had been just 15 miles north at landfall, Boca Grande, Englewood and Venice would have been wiped out! SO sorry for Pine Island and Ft. Myers, but we are so grateful our damage is manageable.

Hurricane Ian isn't nearly as destructive as Hurricane Brandon.

$5Au holds the view that coastal residents should be able to afford hurricane insurance or live somewhere else.