After Hurricane Irma, let’s rebuild smarter

Almost every storm season in Florida, two beachfront homes on a skinny strip of Martin County’s Hutchinson Island come perilously close to collapsing into the Atlantic Ocean. In 2012, two Mercedes fell through the garage floor of one of the houses as Hurricane Sandy churned offshore, undermining the home’s foundation. Last weekend, as Hurricane Irma lashed Florida, emergency responders showed up at the house next door, fearing the whole structure was about to collapse. The brick driveway had detached from the house, and much of the sand washed out beneath it.

After Irma passed, the house remained upright on its pilings. It stands as a symbol of a larger question: Is it time for a conversation about better regulating coastal construction in Florida? I know; I used the “r” word.

About a quarter-mile north of the two storm-battered houses, two homes are under construction on an even narrower strip of the barrier island. Does this make sense to you? Why do we continue to allow new construction in such vulnerable areas?

“It’s a very delicate conversation in this country because of private property rights,” said Nicki van Vonno, Martin County’s growth management director. “You could certainly make the argument that these areas should not be developed. But it’s a very difficult argument to be made.”

There’s precedent for taking action.

North Carolina’s Outer Banks offer a case study. In 1999, the iconic Cape Hatteras Light Station was moved inland because the shoreline was creeping dangerously close to it. When the lighthouse was built in 1870, it stood 1,500 feet from the ocean; a century later it was 120 feet away, National Geographic reported in

2014. Some homes on the Outer Banks also were relocated.

Barrier islands are, as their names imply, barriers that protect the mainland. When you make your home on one, you run the risk of living on shifting sands. I’m not suggesting we nix all barrier island development. But can we do better about new construction? Where homes are lost to storms, can we rebuild smart? How can we prevent taxpayers from subsidizing the protection of waterfront mansions?

In 2012, the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid

$3.2 million to raise 11 homes in the wealthy coastal town of Sewall’s Point so they’d be less vulnerable to flooding. How many more homes will government money pay to protect?

Finding a solution will not be easy. It never is when we’re talking about private property rights. But it’s possible, especially in the aftermath of devastation.

Hurricane Andrew was the catalyst for Florida to develop more rigorous building codes. Those codes have undoubtedly saved lives and property in the 25 years since.

Could Hurricane Irma be the catalyst for better coastal development practices?

I hope so.

Irma, for all her devastation, could be a vehicle making our state a better place.