You can build in the floodplain safely if you raise the base flood elevation of the home site. It's just takes bringing in a shitton of dirt. Your house may become an island during floods, but it will be untouched.
People who have been conned don't like to admit they've been conned. They will jump through all kinds of mental hoops to avoid coming to terms with it. They'll have forgotten about this in a few weeks.
I'm sure he did, but Checo was still able to drive it very well for the first while. It wasn't until last season where it got to the point that he couldn't handle it anymore.
I think Newey's original design for this rule set was really great, but maybe they were close to the limit of how much faster it could be made to go especially when he wasn't the one working on it anymore. As a result they got desperate and started tailoring it even more to Max's ability because it was the only way to get any more speed out of it. It got undriveable for everyone else as a result because they aren't an all-time talent.