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occurred near the coast from Winter Beach to Vero Beach and <br /> Florida Ridge. Twenty seven manufactured homes and two <br /> single family homes were damaged by water intrusion and 20 <br /> roads were temporarily closed due to standing water during the <br /> height of the flooding. <br /> For many years, the risk of significant loss of life and property <br /> due to hurricanes seemed small. Many, if not the majority of <br /> existing homes and business along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf <br /> Coasts were located there during the 1970's and 1980's, a <br /> period of relatively inactive hurricane formation. Most of the <br /> people currently living and working in coastal areas have never <br /> experienced the impact of a major hurricane. Hurricanes that <br /> impacted Florida during the 1970's and 80's were infrequent <br /> and of relatively low intensity. Homeowners, business interest, <br /> and government officials grew to regard hurricane risk as <br /> manageable by private insurance supplemented occasionally <br /> by Federal disaster funding and subsidized flood insurance. <br /> The hurricane risk did not seem sufficient to warrant increased <br /> investment in mitigation. Two major hurricanes, Hugo in 1989 <br /> and Andrew in 1992, forced a re-evaluation of this risk <br /> assessment. While experts sometimes disagree on the annual <br /> cost, all sources agree that Hurricane Andrew was the most <br /> costly hurricane event ever to affect the U.S. Insured losses <br /> from Hurricane Andrew topped $17 billion, and most sources <br /> agree that the total cost of Hurricane Andrew exceeded $25 <br /> billion. <br /> Florida is the most vulnerable state in the nation to the impacts <br /> of hurricanes and tropical storms. South Central Florida is <br /> particularly exposed to the dangers presented by hurricanes <br /> due to its topography. The region is largely a flat, low-lying <br /> plain. The potential for property damage and human <br /> casualties in Indian River County has been increased by the <br /> rapid growth of the County over the last few decades, <br /> particularly along the coastline. Population risk also has been <br /> exacerbated by some complacency due to the recent period of <br /> reduced hurricane frequency. <br /> Florida not only has the most people at risk from hurricanes, <br /> but it also has the most coastal property exposed to these <br /> storms. Over the 30-year period from 1980-2010, Florida's <br /> population increased by 93%. At the end of 2008, there were <br /> 6.389 million residential risks, including 4.5 million of those <br /> Indian River County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Basic Page 23 <br />