Oof sorry in advance this got longer than intended…

I know there are plenty of other case studies of post-disaster predation by capital, but Fort Myers Beach, FL comes to mind. Hurricanes Ian and Milton destroyed the long-standing businesses and the communities (typically mobile/RV park style set-ups) where the employees lived. Those areas were bought up by investors to build new hotels, surface lots, etc, so then wealthier people move to the coastal-adjacent but protected areas (typically destroying coastal marsh in the process), and poorer people are relegated to urban “affordable” housing (typically destroying inland/brackish marsh in the process) with long commutes to locations where they could previously set up trailers (as its often seasonal labor).

So now there’s a few concentric “rings” of threats/risk. Beachfront - risk is mitigated by developers having new properties built at higher elevations (subsidized), leaving the first levels for parking, and through dredging/expansion of beaches (subsidized, with the caveat of providing whatever dogshit transit they will for public access). Generally a losing battle to squeeze out money while they can. Land is subsiding, sea level is rising, and storms are growing in intensity. The biggest risk is to the indigent labor who are less agile in their ability to evacuate/not work during a hurricane.

Interior to that - wealthier people move to the coastal-adjacent but protected areas. These are at less risk from storm surge for now, but land subsidence and sea level rise mean it will be a bigger threat down the road. Additionally, storms produce increased precipitation, and as these sites are former coastal wetlands, they lack the topography to drain at a rate preventative of flooding (disregarding that they were never meant to drain in the first place). So these suburbs receive pumps, etc (subsidized), and emergency response when needed (provided by the working class). The biggest risk here is the loss of wetlands preventing further land loss and mitigating surge, and of course to wildlife like the endangered panther.

Finally, poorer people are relegated to urban “affordable” housing, which faces similar threats of increased precipitation and inadequate drainage, but with the increased difficulty of evacuation (especially since most have to work until the last minute) if it’s even a possibility. More than likely these will be inadequately built and maintained and will produce mold, structural hazards, etc. These are also typically a long ways from the areas of work, and have inadequate transportation.

Similar responses are/will happen for wildfire re-development (LA, CA), riverine flooding (Fargo, ND), land erosion (MA coast), etc. Minimize disruption to the wealthy landowners, maximize profits to speculators, and pass the costs and risks to the workers.

Just my two cents