Dr. Jonah Rainwater wrote:boca_chris wrote:houses on the water here in Boca are like 10 million. A house away from the beach range from $500K-$5 million. I can't afford either

If a hurricane hit Boca Raton, would the damages be twice as much as if an identical hurricane destroyed an equal amount of homes and property that was built in a city with half the land value of Boca Raton?
Look at Wilma damages compared to Rita's. Rita completely destroyed several towns, yet Wilma's damage costs were a little higher. Look at the median home price in Florida where Wilma hit and compare that to SW La. and SE Tx. where Rita hit. Not even in the same ballpark! Then look where each of them tracked inland. SW La. and SE Tx. differ vastly from South Florida.
For example, median house values where Rita hit:
Cameron, La. $52,600
Lake Charles, La. $72,100
Vinton, La. $55,500
Port Arthur, Tx. $35,900
Port Neches, Tx. $79,600
Nederland, Tx. $68,200
Beaumont, Tx. $62,500
Orange, Tx. $53,300
Sabine Pass, Tx. $44,600
Lumberton, Tx. $94,500
Kirbyville, Tx $45,300
Jasper, Tx $60,800
Sour Lake, Tx. $48,400
I couldn't find Johnson's Bayou and Holly Beach, but I would assume they're similar to Cameron or Sabine Pass. (someone correct me if I'm wrong)
Compare that to places Wilma hit:
Marco Island, Fl. $291,100
Naples, Fl. $416,000
Everglades, Fl. $121,200
Coral Springs, Fl. $175,500
Pompano Beach, Fl. $135,700
Weston, Fl. $202,000
Miami, Fl. $120,100
Wellington, Fl. $164,800
Boca Raton, Fl. $230,200
Fort Lauderdale, Fl. $150,100
Plantation, Fl. $158,000
I'm sure there are more that are higher and lower, but I'm not as familiar with that area as I am here.
The median home price in Collier County, Fl. before Wilma was a whopping $466,000!
The median home price in Jefferson County, Tx before Rita was $80,480
and in Cameron Parish was $59,600.
Wow. Thanks for bringing this up. I didn't really realize how dramatically higher in value most places in South Florida were. I knew they were higher, just didn't realize this much. I guess it shows how much damage Rita really did when you consider how much cheaper most of the property is and Rita's damages were still about $10 billion while Wilma's were about $12 billion. Just wow.