Most Freepers are probably too young to remember the pre-FEMA time when "insurance" was how these disasters were handled.
FEMA has encouraged many people to build where they shouldn’t. And the way they should. In Louisiana several years ago, I was driving in an area where the older houses were built up on piers. The Newer ones were on top of small fills, but no where near as high. The difference? They could take a risk because of FEMA.