They are too poor to afford concrete, so the continue to build these cheap, wood framed structures which are doomed to be scoured from the face of the earth every 10-20 years or so.
What can they do, otherwise? If the Bahamas was populated by more industrious folks, everything there would be made of concrete or steel, elevated off the ground, with banned wood frame buildings, and this cycle of misery would be cut off.
Exactly. The government should build some hurricane proof "shelters" on high ground for emergencies. The other 99% of the time they can be used for storage or something.
400k population of the Bahamas.
6-7 millions tourists per year. Granted, tourists stay a few days so divide them out to a week’s stay so 125k. IOW, one third of the housing in the Bahamas is for tourists. One would think the majority of rentals would be owned by people with some money for improvements. Those owners don’t make $$$ when the rental is swept off the face of the earth.
Don’t know the rates there but here they’re $1000/wk and waaaay up. A few weeks would buy a lot of cement.