"I've been listening to Bush during this campaign, and it's like he's becoming stronger because he had to figure out McCain," said Dan Corder, a builder of subdivision homes, who was sitting in Smiley's Restaurant on the square.
The results are of concern given their proximity to subdivisions, homes, and farms.
Flames closed in on the Crescent H Ranch subdivision, where home values average about $5 million.
At the peak of the housing boom in 2007, the subdivision had homes that carried asking prices of well over $1 million, said Mr. Fuehrmeyer, who bought four years ago.
The wall of water raced over the beach, picked up an entire subdivision of homes and hurdled a seawall en route to Higashi-Matsushima.
To the west of the river lies the town's new wealth, a collection of labyrinthine subdivisions where home prices start at $250,000 and can go for as much as a million dollars.
Approval was hardly a given; some of his earlier projects, such as a subdivision featuring homes designed by the thirty best architects in the world (chosen by a panel), had been stalled by the town.
To ensure that the subdivision's homes are affordable and remain so for many years to come, the housing corporation owns the land beneath each house and leases it to the homeowner for a nominal fee.
It's pitch black for new orders, cancellation rates, lots in subdivision, new-home completions and sales.
Once a carload of residents and visitors clears the last subdivision of homes just outside the park, they are in a rugged environment.
