Would you return back to New Orleans after this hurricane?

If you live in a soup bowl surrounded by water expect to get wet

I have a friend who lives in Florida. A few years ago her house got destroyed. It took them a year to rebuild it, and during this time they live in a trailer in their back yard. The house was finally rebuilt, they move back into the house, and not more than week later - you guessed - another hurricane came in and destroyed the new house.

I don't understand why people live in certain areas. If you know an area is prone to hurricanes, flooding, or earthquakes, well, you get what you deserve. And living in a city that is below sea level and right next to the ocean isn't too bright. You just know it's only a matter of time.

just gave them ticket back, in 3 years they will evacuate again

I don't understand why people build wooden houses in these areas. Water aside, a brick or stone house can withstand most things the elements throw at it... 3 little pigs anyone?

Actually, brick or stone would fare worse than wood in a hurricane. Unless you're building a 2 foot thick fort or something.

And there's not much stone to be had in a delta.

Basically, it'd be 10x more expensive, and 0.0001% more solid.

Most people live in a place because they were born there.
Their parents and grandparents are there. They marry people whose families are there. So that's where they live.

I don't expect a bunch of young, rootless people on an internet message board to understand that.

Alot of the people who got stuck in New Orleans after Katrina were people who didn't own cars and have never been out of the city. They grow up, get jobs, take care of their elders, it's the circle of life.
They didn't have money to evacuate, much less money to move to a new city where they have no contacts.

Our ancestors built cities that were close to sources of fresh water (go figure). They also built them in coastal areas so that it would be easy to conduct trade. This is how they survived.

You can ask these kinds of questions after any natural disaster. Would you go back to California after your house was leveled in an earthquake? Would you go back to the midwest after your roof was ripped off by a tornado? Would you move back to a mountain region after a volcanic eruption or a landslide?

There is no risk-less place to live. Why do people live in Israel when they're under constant threat of terrorist attack? In Beijing when the air pollution is so bad you'd be better off living in America and being a pack-a-day smoker? In Russia where it gets so cold that it's common for people to lose fingers and toes due to frostbite?

People live there because it's their home, it's where they're from, that's the way it is.

FWIW, people keep making a big deal about this "below sea level" thing.....Amsterdam is below sea level, but they have a levee system that keeps them safe. The better question for people to be asking is why does the Army Corps of Engineers refuse to build the same kind of levee system for the people of New Orleans. (Please remember the State and Local Governments have no control over the levees whatsoever, these are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.)

Once hurricane is over, I think I'll head over there and claim some abandoned property