A large percentage of the housing stock in the Outer Banks looks new, which suggests that it was rebuilt with funds from the federal flood insurance program after a number of hurricanes. It consists of megahouses, three or four stories in height, elevated about 15 feet. About half of it, by my guess, is rental housing for tourists.
My record proves that I have as much respect for property rights as anyone. However, there is no public interest in vacation rentals that justifies using federal funds to promote development in such an absurdly vulnerable area. These houses are doomed in the long run. I don’t want to pick up the tab when they go under.
Would I agree to pay to rebuild New Orleans or New York? Yes. But the owners of these buildings should be operating at their own risk, because their contribution to the country’s wellbeing is close to zero.