Amun wrote:

....
Even most people with no cash still have legs that they could have used to
get to higher ground a day before it hit.

Where would that have been? Almost the whole of the city is low ground
and how far would you have walked leaving your home?

Not like the hurricane just appeared without any warning.

That's true and some didn't make the prudent decision...

....

This is like the trailer park people farther north who lose their homes in
the same area year after year every time a tornado comes through, ...

And where would that be? I'm unaware of any particular location that
gets hit w/ tornadoes on an annual basis. While in "tornado alley" it's
been over 20 years since been one closer than about 1-1/2 mi of the
house. That's hardly enough that one could expect no one w/ limited
finances to not use what alternatives there are for affordable housing.