The article I chose to go with for my first blog is “Charleston Floods Are Getting Worse. For These Residents, It’s Worth the Risk.” from the Wall Street Journal. I thought this article relates perfectly to our class because it discusses the impact of climate change and severe weather on a historical town, both in physical damage and damage in property value.
To give some background, the article highlights that Charleston is known for being a beautiful and historic town that is on a peninsula. When people first started to move there, they originally chose to live up on elevated ground, only for bodies of water like marshes, ponds, and streams to come in as well. Because of the surrounding bodies of water, the town is very susceptible to flooding. One of the most telling statistics they mention in the article about the recent climate change is that “73% of the major ocean floods to hit the city between 1923 and 2024 have occurred since 2015.” Unfortunately, as the title suggests, the flooding is only going to get worse for this town. However, despite the clear signs for upcoming property damage, the article informs that the market for these homes are doing great simply because of how beautiful the historic and Victorian style homes are. One of the most interesting quotes I found from the article about this was “many of the city’s sought-after historic homes have been raised to help keep water out of the living areas, which costs a minimum of $500,000.”
Overall, I thought the people living in this area are nuts.
I’d understand, maybe, if these were beach properties, but these are people’s
actual homes that that they live in year round. What will they do if the
flooding destroys their homes? What if they can’t get insurance to cover them?
From the sound of it, they seem to think it’s worth it for the historical and
scenic aspects, but I can’t help but question why they would potentially put
their lives on the line to be able to hold on to that. I think if we were to
look at the data of flooding in this area, I would want to know what happens if
the flooding got worse. If a really bad flood comes through and destroys many
of the properties, how much value would be lost and how much could it
potentially cost to repair it? Another thing I would want to know is how
effective are the protective measurements they’re putting in are. If they’re
spending a minimum of $500,000 to raise these homes, what are they using to
measure how effective they would be.
Personally, never in a million years would I invest in any
of these homes, but I understand to some degree why people would choose to live
in this area. From this article, I am curious what others think of the true
value of these homes. Should the homes be worth this much or not?
Thanks!
Jaiden Davey
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