THOUSANDS LOST THEIR HOMES. HOW MANY LOST THEIR LAND? With all the beach erosion, coastal homeowners may find their homes now sit on public property: “Even people whose coastal houses were spared by Hurricane Ike could see them condemned under a little-known Texas law, and hundreds whose beachfront homes were wrecked could be barred from rebuilding there. Now here’s the saltwater in the wound: It could be a year before the state tells these homeowners what they may or may not do. And if these homeowners do lose their beachfront property, they may get no compensation from the state.” [L.A. Times]
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To me, this would have been a risk you take by buying a home on the beach in Texas to begin with and the law has existed for some time.
It is weird how this was a known risk and we are given somewhat a sad story about it, but thousands of Houston home owners are going through the same thing when the new FEMA flood maps came out and the city changed its floodplain ordinance. Many home owners in Houston are in a situation where they can’t rebuild on their property for any reason and their property has been rendered worthless if they want to sell it to be redeveloped. They also can’t perform a substantial renovation either.
Just check out the link below. More people are affected by this than the number of beach front homes on Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsular.
http://www.houstonfloodway.org/