How Miami has prepared for sea level rise and monstrous hurricanes like Irma

Miami is becoming increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather disasters, like Hurricane Irma, and climate threats, like sea level rise.
In recent years, the city has been preparing by elevating its roads, re-building its seawall, installing more pump stations, and improving its drainage systems.
The risks of sea level rise and flooding are projected to worsen over the next decade.

Hurricane Irma is one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history, and as it moves toward the US, Miami is in the crosshairs.

Located on Florida's southeast coast, Miami has long been preparing for weather disasters and climate risks like sea level rise and mega-storms.

But Irma is no ordinary storm. With sustained winds of 150 mph (and gusts even higher) and a span of over 400 miles, it has the potential to destroy homes and businesses. As BuzzFeed News notes, bdesigned found

In recent years, Miami's real estate boom has encouraged the construction of expensive developments close to the shoreline, making the city prone to storm surge flooding — something that global warming-linked sea level rise makes worse.

In 2015, the city of Miami Beach established a multimillion-dollar flood resilience plan, called Rising Above, that calls for an extensive makeover of the region's infrastructure.

By 2025, Miami Beach hopes to spend $400 million to elevate 60% of its roads, which will receive new drainage systems, pavement, and sewer and water systems as needed. (A

Miami Beach's Deputy Resiliency Officer,

The map to the right shows the roads Miami Beach plans to elevate by 2025. Some are being raised as much as two feet, .

Miami Beach and the city at large are also working on several other similar projects. For example, the city is reconstructing Indian Creek Drive

The city also mandates that new buildings be constructed five feet above current sea levels, and set restrictions on developing in the city's floodplain in 2015. (There has already been some development there, however.) By 2025, Miami's stormwater drainage system will get a $500 million upgrade.

Miami Beach could one day be submerged underwater if sea levels rise 3 feet or more.

"It's really important for us to take this long term planning perspective,"

How Miami has prepared for sea level rise and monstrous hurricanes like Irma

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