@article{913951,
      recid = {913951},
      author = {Gaul, Gilbert M.,},
      title = {The geography of risk : epic storms, rising seas, and the  cost of America's coasts /},
      pages = {286 pages :},
      abstract = {The costliest hurricanes in U.S. history have all occurred  in the past two decades--but who bears the financial brunt  of these monster storms? It is no accident that five of the  most destructive hurricanes in the last hundred years have  made landfall since 2005: Katrina ($161 billion), Ike ($40  billion), Sandy ($71 billion), Harvey ($125 billion), and  Maria ($90 billion). And with more property than ever in  harm's way, the seas rising, and the planet and its oceans  warming dangerously, it won't be long before we see a $250  billion storm. Why? Because Americans have built $3  trillion worth of property in some of the riskiest places  on earth: barrier islands and coastal floodplains prone to  hurricanes and epic floods. And they have been encouraged  to do so by what Gilbert M. Gaul reveals in The Geography  of Risk to be a confounding array of federal subsidies, tax  breaks, low-interest loans, disaster recovery grants, and  government flood insurance programs that shift risk at the  beach from private investors to public taxpayers, radically  distorting common notions of risk and responsibility.  Consider: In 1955, taxpayers covered just 5 percent of the  cost of rebuilding after hurricanes. They now pay for 70  percent--sometimes more. These federal incentives, the  two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gaul argues, have  resulted in one of the worst planning failures in American  history, with the cost to taxpayers now reaching  unsustainable levels. In prose that is at once deeply  informed, clear, and entertaining, Gaul explores the  history of the modern coast and how, over time, federal  taxpayers far from the shoreline have become responsible  for a shocking collection of coastal amenities and  infrastructure: new roads, bridges, utilities, and  streetlights; tennis courts, marinas, and gazebos; food,  cars--even paying billions to widen the beaches of hedge  fund owners. The Geography of Risk will forever change the  way you think about the coasts, from the clash between  economic interests and nature to the heated politics of  regulators and developers. -- Dust jacket flap.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/913951},
}