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>And more to the point, how long are we as a society going to continue to
>protect those who put themselves in harm's way (live in trailers in
>hurricane or tornado country, build houses on stilts in earthquake country,
>building in lowlands in flood country, etc.)?   The way to stop this
>madness is to treat people like adults and refuse to pay them for their
>mistakes once the folly is exposed.
 
Even more to the point, how can society gain control over land resources to
the point where risk situations are eliminated.  -- Look at the houses in
Piedmont (oakland ca, fire area) -- there are lots of older houses there
built right on the hayward fault, which is due anytime.  These suckers are
*going* to collapse, no matter what, and when they do they just happen to
be in a seriously flammable ecosystem!   Most are worth $300K and up.  We
can't just expect people to walk away from that kind of personal asset --
they won't do it.  The people responsible for that kind of 'madness' are
long gone.  Back then they didn't know, and in modern times unsafe structures
are built as a result of local political corruption.  "We need to relax
government regulations to attract business and construction and get our
economy moving!" -- bingo! apt buildings built on pilings with parking on
the ground floor.  just what collapsed in la.  Not only can we not confiscate
unsafe property, the sanctity of assets ensures their perpetuation -- those
$300K+ homes *have* to be rebuilt after they collapse, because otherwise
the 'worth' of the lot and insured home is gone -- govt has no mechanism
for re-engineering the landscape.
 
end of rambling flame.