Sandy may change things more than expected.

[intheflow]

1. I saw that happen in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

Rich folk moved inland just far enough away from those white sand beaches after the storm surge devastated their mansions. They displaced a lot of poor blacks and Vietnamese renters who worked service jobs in the casinos and at those big mansions. Of course there was no other rental housing available and it became a real clusterf*ck.

But you bring up another issue I also saw in Mississippi. Part of the reason the destruction was so bad was because of overdevelopment of fields and wetlands. Marshes and cypress swamps that used to absorb storm surges had been cleared to make way for those sandy beaches and backfilled to build malls and wealthy housing. Thus Katrina's devastation was amplified 10-fold as inland tributaries (sometimes miles inland) flooded up to 10 feet under the surge.

May you stay safe, Friend.