Mobile Register: Do not protect Dauphin Island homes with tax dollars

The Register opines that home owners and private insurers should accept the full risk of building on the island. That's a good idea, but why limit its application to Dauphin Island, Alabama?

If those houses [damaged and destroyed on Dauphin Island] are rebuilt by their owners, no more tax dollars should be spent to protect them. Nor should any insurance fund associated with the state or federal government insure them.

If private insurers want to take on the risk of covering storm damage or flooding, that's up to them. If homeowners want to rebuild on private property, that's up to them.

But every time Dauphin Island floods, the west end erodes and narrows. A $1 million berm built a few years ago -- with 75 percent federal money -- lasted only a couple of years.

Unlike the beaches of Baldwin County, this piece of Dauphin Island is a relatively small part of the overall regional economy. Legislation of some sort may be needed to prohibit any use of tax dollars to protect it from wind, water and erosion, but in the long run, the public will benefit.

The lessons learned from decades-old decisions to build on Gulf Coast beaches should be heeded. Dauphin Island is a prime example of how such mistakes can prove to be costly.

While we sympathize with property owners who have lost their homes on the west end, there is no justification for repeating the mistake of building there.

If homeowners on the west end continue to deny the obvious and insist on rebuilding on shifting sand, they should do so entirely at their own risk.