That said, you gotta be a complete fool to buy land in a swamp or a flood plain and not even do basic research. Believe it or not most property in Golden Gate Estates was not in the flood plain, you'd be surprised how little is. Unless this happens of course.
Thing is that much of this stuff wasn't brewing when most of the property owners and farmers bought their plots. Some of the farms have been in families for generations.
That's one thing that makes this so infuriating. It shows that property owners can be minding their own business and along comes their own government using their own tax money to devalue vast amounts of private property on a whim. No matter how much research one does, there's not much one can do if the government decides to bring a scourge upon you.
Agreed. I'm sure the farmers knew what they were getting into however. Farmers are not naieve. They can abandon most of their property during times of flood and take losses on their taxes. They have special vehicles to get around during times of high water in such places. They build their houses on elevated portions or on stilts.
I blame the jerkoff local authorities who allow developers to build residential neighborhoods where, even if it's only every fifty years STATISTICALLY ( which means it can happen over and over again in a span of just a few years and then not happen for a hundred or more years) ... it still is a real threat. They do it all over the country.
Homeowners. Remember. Caveat emptor. Don't be a sucker.