1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:06,900 ♪♪ 2 00:00:06,933 --> 00:00:10,366 -In order to understand whether hurricanes are getting worse, 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,600 we have to understand what they've done in the past. 4 00:00:13,633 --> 00:00:17,100 -Joanne Muller is a paleotempestologist. 5 00:00:17,133 --> 00:00:20,000 She's a scientist who studies the forensic record 6 00:00:20,033 --> 00:00:23,333 of ancient storms. [ Thunder rumbles ] 7 00:00:23,366 --> 00:00:26,466 -We're looking for evidence of past hurricane events 8 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:28,266 to try to understand what the hurricane history 9 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:30,433 is on the west coast of Florida. 10 00:00:30,466 --> 00:00:39,333 ♪♪ 11 00:00:39,366 --> 00:00:42,633 -Every major hurricane to ever hit Florida's coast 12 00:00:42,666 --> 00:00:45,333 has left behind a calling card like the sediment 13 00:00:45,366 --> 00:00:47,533 buried deep beneath this lagoon. 14 00:00:50,866 --> 00:00:54,533 By sifting through the evidence of long-ago hurricanes, 15 00:00:54,566 --> 00:00:57,800 Muller will help Miami predict storms of the future. 16 00:00:57,833 --> 00:01:01,933 [ Thunder rumbles ] 17 00:01:01,966 --> 00:01:04,833 The world's great cities face threats they have never 18 00:01:04,866 --> 00:01:06,866 before encountered -- 19 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:08,133 New York, 20 00:01:08,166 --> 00:01:09,633 Tokyo, 21 00:01:09,666 --> 00:01:10,966 London, 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:12,600 Miami. 23 00:01:12,633 --> 00:01:14,900 The threats come from the sea, 24 00:01:14,933 --> 00:01:16,800 from above 25 00:01:16,833 --> 00:01:18,466 and from below. 26 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:21,933 These are the problems and their solutions... 27 00:01:21,966 --> 00:01:27,900 ♪♪ 28 00:01:27,933 --> 00:01:29,966 ...for when the water comes. 29 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:38,666 [ Waves crashing ] 30 00:01:40,966 --> 00:01:45,766 ♪♪ 31 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,266 -At their Florida Gulf Coast University lab, 32 00:01:48,300 --> 00:01:51,166 Joanne Muller's team analyzes sediment cores 33 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,100 to create a timeline of hurricanes 34 00:01:53,133 --> 00:01:55,000 that happened centuries ago. 35 00:01:57,133 --> 00:01:59,133 -This is essentially the overwash 36 00:01:59,166 --> 00:02:03,066 that the hurricane has produced, so this is what the hurricane 37 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:06,566 has brought back into the lagoon. 38 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,666 -Muller is looking at samples from 1,000 years ago. 39 00:02:10,699 --> 00:02:14,666 From 950 to 1250 A.D., the Medieval Warm Period 40 00:02:14,700 --> 00:02:19,000 was a time when the Atlantic Ocean was warmer than usual. 41 00:02:19,033 --> 00:02:21,433 She finds that there's more sediment overwash 42 00:02:21,466 --> 00:02:26,266 and evidence of more hurricane activity in that period. 43 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:28,733 -Well, what we're seeing here in southwest Florida 44 00:02:28,766 --> 00:02:32,966 is time periods of activity and inactivity, 45 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,400 and these time periods of activity 46 00:02:35,433 --> 00:02:38,466 are correlated with warmer sea-surface temperatures 47 00:02:38,500 --> 00:02:41,133 in the main development region of the Atlantic, 48 00:02:41,166 --> 00:02:44,266 so, for example, during the Medieval Warm Period 49 00:02:44,300 --> 00:02:46,366 when sea-surface temperatures were warmer, 50 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,966 we see quite a few more overwashed layers 51 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,100 during that time period whereas, during the Little Ice Age, 52 00:02:53,133 --> 00:02:55,000 which was a relatively cooler period, 53 00:02:55,033 --> 00:02:57,533 sea-surface temperatures were relatively lower out 54 00:02:57,566 --> 00:02:58,966 in the main development region. 55 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,900 We don't see any overwashed layers. 56 00:03:01,933 --> 00:03:05,466 -With Atlantic Ocean surface temperatures now rising, 57 00:03:05,500 --> 00:03:08,033 Muller's research indicates that Florida should expect 58 00:03:08,066 --> 00:03:11,933 more hurricanes in the 21st century. 59 00:03:11,966 --> 00:03:15,166 -So what this is telling us is that, 60 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,233 when sea-surface temperatures are warmer, 61 00:03:17,266 --> 00:03:19,800 we tend to see more landfalling storms 62 00:03:19,833 --> 00:03:22,266 here in southwest Florida, 63 00:03:22,300 --> 00:03:25,533 and we should be expecting more storms like this. 64 00:03:25,566 --> 00:03:28,266 [ Thunder rumbles ] 65 00:03:30,333 --> 00:03:33,166 -From Miamians, the upside of living by the water 66 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,866 has always outweighed the drawbacks, 67 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:38,233 but while most residents are used to the flooding 68 00:03:38,266 --> 00:03:40,966 and heavy rains that comes with tropical storms, 69 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,433 they're now facing a new kind of flooding, 70 00:03:43,466 --> 00:03:45,733 which comes from below the ground, 71 00:03:45,766 --> 00:03:48,233 often when there's not a cloud in the sky. 72 00:03:50,266 --> 00:03:53,600 It happens during what's called king tides. 73 00:03:53,633 --> 00:03:56,766 Locals just call it sunny-day flooding. 74 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,200 -The first time that, that happened, 75 00:03:58,233 --> 00:04:01,633 I was surprised because what you find, it's -- 76 00:04:01,666 --> 00:04:03,300 At the end of this road in particular, 77 00:04:03,333 --> 00:04:06,533 you'll find a bunch of water and big puddles. 78 00:04:06,566 --> 00:04:09,900 -Laura Pantano is a real-estate agent. 79 00:04:09,933 --> 00:04:13,833 She lives in Shorecrest, a neighborhood in Miami 80 00:04:13,866 --> 00:04:17,233 on the shore of Biscayne Bay. 81 00:04:17,266 --> 00:04:20,500 -I really was ignorant about the king tide, 82 00:04:20,533 --> 00:04:25,066 and I knew that the tide is controlled or influenced 83 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:26,833 by the moon and the full moon, 84 00:04:26,866 --> 00:04:29,400 but I never realized how you could wake up 85 00:04:29,433 --> 00:04:31,333 in the morning like this 86 00:04:31,366 --> 00:04:35,800 and find water at the doorstep of your house 87 00:04:35,833 --> 00:04:38,633 for no other reason than the tide, 88 00:04:38,666 --> 00:04:42,733 and then I will find in my driveway all of the debris... 89 00:04:42,766 --> 00:04:46,600 Like that, what you see here, that I have to clean up. 90 00:04:46,633 --> 00:04:48,866 ...because everything is literally on your house, 91 00:04:48,900 --> 00:04:51,733 and it's sunny, and you don't understand. 92 00:04:51,766 --> 00:04:54,133 -King tides are the higher-than-normal tides, 93 00:04:54,166 --> 00:04:58,133 which usually occur during a full or new moon. 94 00:04:58,166 --> 00:05:01,866 Because of rising sea level, high tides now often push up 95 00:05:01,900 --> 00:05:04,933 through Miami's drainage system and onto the streets, 96 00:05:04,966 --> 00:05:08,500 carrying debris along as they go. 97 00:05:08,533 --> 00:05:10,800 The water might then disappear between tides 98 00:05:10,833 --> 00:05:13,833 only to flood back up again 12 hours later. 99 00:05:16,266 --> 00:05:19,100 -As the sea is rising, those same tides, 100 00:05:19,133 --> 00:05:21,233 they're riding on higher seas, 101 00:05:21,266 --> 00:05:23,700 so the water comes through those drains and pipes 102 00:05:23,733 --> 00:05:25,933 and pops up in the streets. 103 00:05:28,033 --> 00:05:30,833 There are some figures that say that a sea-level 104 00:05:30,866 --> 00:05:32,866 rise in that area of Miami 105 00:05:32,900 --> 00:05:37,066 is six times faster than the global average. 106 00:05:37,100 --> 00:05:39,833 By 2030, it's expected that they will see 107 00:05:39,866 --> 00:05:42,600 about 50 tidal floods a year 108 00:05:42,633 --> 00:05:47,633 and, by 2045, about 250 times a year. 109 00:05:47,666 --> 00:05:51,300 Yeah. Can you imagine? 110 00:05:51,333 --> 00:05:53,100 -It's not seawater flooding. 111 00:05:53,133 --> 00:05:56,366 It's freshwater in the aquifer stored beneath the city, 112 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,033 which is being pushed up by the rising tide. 113 00:06:00,066 --> 00:06:03,366 -Cities like Miami are a complicated machine. 114 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,300 They try to keep saltwater from the ocean 115 00:06:05,333 --> 00:06:07,833 from coming into the well zones, 116 00:06:07,866 --> 00:06:10,400 and they recharge the groundwater from rivers 117 00:06:10,433 --> 00:06:12,666 and canals. 118 00:06:12,700 --> 00:06:15,066 We need the groundwater to be high, 119 00:06:15,100 --> 00:06:18,466 sufficient for using it for water resources, 120 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:19,766 but not too high. 121 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,033 We need the rain but not too much rain, 122 00:06:22,066 --> 00:06:26,433 so it's difficult to balance how they're going to maintain 123 00:06:26,466 --> 00:06:28,733 a thick enough lens of freshwater 124 00:06:28,766 --> 00:06:31,333 in the water table for water use 125 00:06:31,366 --> 00:06:37,233 and not let the sea level push it up out of the ground. 126 00:06:37,266 --> 00:06:39,466 -In Miami Beach, king-tide flooding 127 00:06:39,500 --> 00:06:43,633 has increased 400 percent in the past 10 years. 128 00:06:47,266 --> 00:06:50,433 The underlying reason why Miami experiences increased 129 00:06:50,466 --> 00:06:54,166 flooding has to do not only with global sea-level rise 130 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,166 but with the city's unique foundation. 131 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,400 Doug Marcy has been studying sea level 132 00:06:59,433 --> 00:07:01,566 for more than 20 years. 133 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,733 -This is a fossiliferous limestone. 134 00:07:05,766 --> 00:07:10,900 It has calcium carbonate and quartz sand. 135 00:07:10,933 --> 00:07:13,033 Most of southeast Florida and Miami-Dade area 136 00:07:13,066 --> 00:07:16,566 is built on top of this type of limestone. 137 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,166 It's hard, so it's good for building 138 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,200 into for high-rise structures and things like that. 139 00:07:22,233 --> 00:07:23,633 It's very porous as you can tell 140 00:07:23,666 --> 00:07:27,400 and has a lot of these holes that are basically -- 141 00:07:27,433 --> 00:07:29,933 got little mini caves, if you will. 142 00:07:29,966 --> 00:07:34,800 So to show you how porous this rock really is, 143 00:07:34,833 --> 00:07:37,600 if I pour this seawater into the top... 144 00:07:40,100 --> 00:07:44,033 ...it goes right through kind of like Swiss cheese. 145 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,700 So groundwater doesn't flow that fast, 146 00:07:48,733 --> 00:07:50,433 but the main point is, 147 00:07:50,466 --> 00:07:52,833 there's no impedance to the flow here. 148 00:07:52,866 --> 00:07:55,133 -Most of Miami and southern Florida 149 00:07:55,166 --> 00:07:58,066 sit on this giant bed of limestone. 150 00:07:58,100 --> 00:07:59,866 As the ocean levels rise, 151 00:07:59,900 --> 00:08:03,466 seawater pushes up through the porous rock, 152 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:06,700 and as it continues to be forced up through the limestone, 153 00:08:06,733 --> 00:08:10,733 it will infiltrate the natural freshwater aquifer. 154 00:08:10,766 --> 00:08:12,466 -It actually can come up through storm drains 155 00:08:12,500 --> 00:08:16,200 and close roads and cause transportation-access problems, 156 00:08:16,233 --> 00:08:19,433 also can cause problems with businesses and whatnot, 157 00:08:19,466 --> 00:08:21,400 so as the saltwater wedge moves in 158 00:08:21,433 --> 00:08:24,533 and drinking-water wells come in contact with that, 159 00:08:24,566 --> 00:08:26,833 then it'll start to become higher salinity values, 160 00:08:26,866 --> 00:08:30,533 and they won't be able to use that for drinking water anymore. 161 00:08:30,566 --> 00:08:33,200 -But it's not just salt contaminating Miami's 162 00:08:33,233 --> 00:08:34,400 drinking water. 163 00:08:34,433 --> 00:08:37,100 There's an even worse problem. 164 00:08:37,133 --> 00:08:40,400 20 percent of Miami-Dade still uses septic tanks 165 00:08:40,433 --> 00:08:42,066 to collect sewage, 166 00:08:42,100 --> 00:08:44,633 and as the water seeps up to the surface, 167 00:08:44,666 --> 00:08:46,366 it gets into those tanks, 168 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,533 causing the flood water to mix with the sewage inside. 169 00:08:50,566 --> 00:08:53,066 -It's definitely not clear, fresh water. 170 00:08:53,100 --> 00:08:54,633 It's muddy. 171 00:08:54,666 --> 00:08:59,366 It's for sure contaminated, and it travels to your house, 172 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:03,566 to where your children walk barefoot. 173 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,766 -The City of Miami advises residents 174 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,266 not to come in contact with the flood water 175 00:09:08,300 --> 00:09:10,500 and to wash immediately if they do. 176 00:09:13,300 --> 00:09:17,633 James Murley is chief resilience officer for Miami-Dade County. 177 00:09:22,233 --> 00:09:26,466 By air, he can see the problems that surround the Miami area, 178 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:29,600 problems that were right there from the beginning. 179 00:09:29,633 --> 00:09:32,100 -When man intervenes in nature, you end up 180 00:09:32,133 --> 00:09:34,100 with a lot of unintended consequences, 181 00:09:34,133 --> 00:09:40,800 and we try to learn from the mistakes we made in the past. 182 00:09:40,833 --> 00:09:42,066 -One of those mistakes 183 00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:44,666 was the removal of the mangrove forests, 184 00:09:44,700 --> 00:09:47,100 nature's protection for coastlines. 185 00:09:49,166 --> 00:09:52,133 This is what Miami looked like before it was developed. 186 00:09:54,633 --> 00:09:58,966 -All along here, everything you see green is mangrove. 187 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:00,533 Mangroves are very valuable. 188 00:10:00,566 --> 00:10:01,766 They protect. 189 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,566 They break down the storm surge coming in. 190 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,333 It's must cheaper to maintain mangrove forest 191 00:10:07,366 --> 00:10:09,000 than it is to build concrete. 192 00:10:09,033 --> 00:10:12,566 You build concrete walls or dikes. 193 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,233 -The mangroves area Miami's prehistory, 194 00:10:15,266 --> 00:10:17,600 which needs to be restored. 195 00:10:17,633 --> 00:10:19,300 It's the city's human impact 196 00:10:19,333 --> 00:10:22,933 that is destined to be destroyed. 197 00:10:22,966 --> 00:10:27,400 -What we see coming up is a mobile-home park. 198 00:10:27,433 --> 00:10:30,800 They were built decades ago in a time 199 00:10:30,833 --> 00:10:35,000 when people thought we would keep the water out, 200 00:10:35,033 --> 00:10:36,833 but now we know we can't do that. 201 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,066 -The most vulnerable areas are also Miami's most valuable. 202 00:10:44,100 --> 00:10:46,933 Even at a glance, it's clear they will be underwater 203 00:10:46,966 --> 00:10:48,966 when the ocean rises. 204 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,833 -This is in the city of Coral Gables. 205 00:10:50,866 --> 00:10:53,800 It's their most expensive real estate. 206 00:10:53,833 --> 00:10:55,500 We understand the value of this real estate 207 00:10:55,533 --> 00:10:57,700 in terms of real-estate taxes, 208 00:10:57,733 --> 00:11:01,166 but we also realize that those decisions we made decades ago 209 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,233 to allow this kind of development right on the coast, 210 00:11:04,266 --> 00:11:06,033 we're not going to keep doing that. 211 00:11:09,433 --> 00:11:12,200 If we were to experience a huge catastrophic storm, 212 00:11:12,233 --> 00:11:14,800 then we'd have to relook at how we redevelop. 213 00:11:14,833 --> 00:11:17,600 It may be better in the future 214 00:11:17,633 --> 00:11:20,933 to relocate those most vulnerable areas. 215 00:11:25,366 --> 00:11:27,733 -Dr. Keren Bolter is a climate scientist 216 00:11:27,766 --> 00:11:30,433 who was born and raised in Miami. 217 00:11:30,466 --> 00:11:32,400 She was alarmed to see how climate change 218 00:11:32,433 --> 00:11:37,600 was transforming her city while being ignored by many. 219 00:11:37,633 --> 00:11:39,133 -When I learned about climate change, 220 00:11:39,166 --> 00:11:40,966 it blew my mind that all of these 221 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:42,500 dramatic changes were happening, 222 00:11:42,533 --> 00:11:46,733 and people still were wondering whether it was a problem, 223 00:11:46,766 --> 00:11:49,400 and once I had kids, I realized it was my life mission 224 00:11:49,433 --> 00:11:53,533 to get people to wake up and understand what's happening. 225 00:11:57,700 --> 00:11:59,766 -Bolter has modeled how sea-level rise 226 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,400 will affect Miami-Dade County through the next century 227 00:12:03,433 --> 00:12:05,366 based on predictions from NOAA, 228 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,633 the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. 229 00:12:09,666 --> 00:12:11,566 -So these tools and this data 230 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,666 is a really good communication method to show what's happening. 231 00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:19,766 We already see 20 days a year that just high tide, 232 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,200 the water is higher than the land, 233 00:12:22,233 --> 00:12:25,266 and how does that increase in the future? 234 00:12:25,300 --> 00:12:28,533 Two to three feet of sea-level rise basically takes 235 00:12:28,566 --> 00:12:33,366 Downtown Miami, Miami Beach and puts it below sea level, 236 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:35,666 and these areas are where the movie stars live 237 00:12:35,700 --> 00:12:36,766 and the famous people. 238 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,800 These are the low-lying areas, 239 00:12:38,833 --> 00:12:41,500 but they stand out not only because of that 240 00:12:41,533 --> 00:12:43,566 but because they have the resources. 241 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:45,833 This is very high property value, 242 00:12:45,866 --> 00:12:49,066 the highest in all of Florida, 243 00:12:49,100 --> 00:12:53,566 but if you look further north, we have these vulnerable areas. 244 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,333 What I did was, I actually modeled low-income populations 245 00:12:57,366 --> 00:12:59,233 at low elevation, and what I found was, 246 00:12:59,266 --> 00:13:03,066 there's a huge hot spot in this area. 247 00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:06,600 -The hot spot is only 15 miles from Miami Beach. 248 00:13:06,633 --> 00:13:11,700 Much of the population here lives below the poverty line. 249 00:13:11,733 --> 00:13:14,666 -So there's a huge social vulnerability 250 00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:18,266 and physical vulnerability in this kind of hot spot. 251 00:13:18,300 --> 00:13:22,600 These are the people that will be truly displaced. 252 00:13:22,633 --> 00:13:28,933 -My name is Eric Bason, and I'm a community activist 253 00:13:28,966 --> 00:13:33,666 working around issues on climate change and sea-level rise. 254 00:13:33,700 --> 00:13:35,066 -Eric Bason is among 255 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:38,600 those living in Miami's most vulnerable area. 256 00:13:38,633 --> 00:13:41,166 -Well, the community is low-income communities, 257 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,800 and members such as myself are highly effected 258 00:13:43,833 --> 00:13:46,100 because we don't have the resources when, like, 259 00:13:46,133 --> 00:13:48,033 a flood happens. 260 00:13:48,066 --> 00:13:49,933 I try to educate community members 261 00:13:49,966 --> 00:13:51,733 about what's accessible to them. 262 00:13:51,766 --> 00:13:54,200 When they're having meetings at city hall, 263 00:13:54,233 --> 00:13:56,466 should make sure that they go and have their voices heard 264 00:13:56,500 --> 00:13:59,133 so that more resources could come down 265 00:13:59,166 --> 00:14:02,566 to help low-income communities like mine. 266 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,700 -What's going on? -Somebody is paying 267 00:14:04,733 --> 00:14:06,333 for the roads to be fixed, 268 00:14:06,366 --> 00:14:08,600 so somebody is paying for flood prevention. 269 00:14:08,633 --> 00:14:09,866 -See you, man. -All right. 270 00:14:09,900 --> 00:14:11,200 -People who live here want to make sure 271 00:14:11,233 --> 00:14:14,833 they get their fair share of that money. 272 00:14:14,866 --> 00:14:16,866 -There's a lot of money being given 273 00:14:16,900 --> 00:14:20,233 for low-income communities to offset their flooding, 274 00:14:20,266 --> 00:14:22,600 but it doesn't seem to go down to these communities. 275 00:14:22,633 --> 00:14:24,333 When you vote for these people, you hire them, 276 00:14:24,366 --> 00:14:27,166 and it's our responsibility to hold them accountable 277 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:28,433 and especially for poor people 278 00:14:28,466 --> 00:14:30,033 if they plan on getting any help. 279 00:14:30,066 --> 00:14:31,266 The squeaky wheel gets the oil. 280 00:14:31,300 --> 00:14:33,200 It's just that simple. 281 00:14:33,233 --> 00:14:35,833 -As Miami's chief resilience officer, 282 00:14:35,866 --> 00:14:38,833 Jane Gilbert recognizes that low-income communities 283 00:14:38,866 --> 00:14:43,100 are much more vulnerable to the rising sea. 284 00:14:43,133 --> 00:14:46,833 -Just under 30 percent of the City of Miami population 285 00:14:46,866 --> 00:14:49,766 is living at poverty level or less, 286 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,933 and I would say a little over 60 percent 287 00:14:53,966 --> 00:14:56,066 have a hard time meeting basic needs, 288 00:14:56,100 --> 00:14:59,233 whether it's rent or child care or transportation, 289 00:14:59,266 --> 00:15:01,866 because we have very high costs 290 00:15:01,900 --> 00:15:05,766 of both housing and transportation costs. 291 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,100 The majority of our population is having a hard time 292 00:15:08,133 --> 00:15:11,700 making ends meet, so that needs to be built 293 00:15:11,733 --> 00:15:15,733 into our resilience strategy as part of it. 294 00:15:15,766 --> 00:15:20,233 -For all its citizens, Miami needs a plan to survive. 295 00:15:20,266 --> 00:15:22,300 According to current projections, 296 00:15:22,333 --> 00:15:23,866 sea-level rise will impact 297 00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:27,066 Miami more than any other city in the US. 298 00:15:29,833 --> 00:15:34,266 Miami could experience as much as a 3-foot rise by 2080 299 00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:38,833 and as much as a 6-foot rise by 2100. 300 00:15:38,866 --> 00:15:40,966 -This is an extremely frightening scenario. 301 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,300 It's scary to even think that, as a worst-case scenario, 302 00:15:44,333 --> 00:15:46,433 it's possible, and the fact that it's possible, 303 00:15:46,466 --> 00:15:47,800 we need to consider it. 304 00:15:47,833 --> 00:15:50,200 And even more alarming, further south, 305 00:15:50,233 --> 00:15:52,000 we happen to have right along the coastline 306 00:15:52,033 --> 00:15:55,000 a nuclear power plant, Turkey Point. 307 00:15:55,033 --> 00:15:58,233 All of the cooling canals in the surrounding areas 308 00:15:58,266 --> 00:16:01,666 are extremely low, so there's a really big vulnerability 309 00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:03,333 for the nuclear power plant. 310 00:16:03,366 --> 00:16:05,666 It's a little scary for me living so close 311 00:16:05,700 --> 00:16:08,866 to a nuclear power plant that is that low-lying. 312 00:16:08,900 --> 00:16:12,000 -Miami-Dade Chief Resilience Officer James Murley 313 00:16:12,033 --> 00:16:15,066 is also worried about Turkey Point. 314 00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:17,833 -So the plant was built there in 1976, 315 00:16:17,866 --> 00:16:21,633 and it's cooled by a large area of cooling canals. 316 00:16:21,666 --> 00:16:23,200 Those probably wouldn't be the way 317 00:16:23,233 --> 00:16:24,966 we would permit it today, 318 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,766 but, you know, that's what we had to live with. 319 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:29,300 We'd like to have cooling towers. 320 00:16:29,333 --> 00:16:32,733 That may be in the future, but that's where we are. 321 00:16:36,900 --> 00:16:39,433 -Miami is also considered the most at-risk 322 00:16:39,466 --> 00:16:42,466 city worldwide for potential property damage 323 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:46,766 due to rising sea level and storm-related flooding. 324 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:51,666 More than $416 billion in real estate is at risk here. 325 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:55,733 -If you look at Downtown Miami right now, 326 00:16:55,766 --> 00:16:58,100 you see crane after crane after crane, 327 00:16:58,133 --> 00:17:02,566 and you see new construction after new construction, 328 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:07,066 gleaming towers rising out of the bay. 329 00:17:07,099 --> 00:17:08,500 You think to yourself, "Wait a second. 330 00:17:08,533 --> 00:17:10,533 Who's buying this? Who's selling? 331 00:17:10,566 --> 00:17:11,966 Aren't these people crazy? 332 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,200 How can they be plunking this amount of money into it?" 333 00:17:16,233 --> 00:17:18,200 We're going to get probably 2 feet of sea-level 334 00:17:18,233 --> 00:17:21,933 rise by 2060, and by 2100, we might get 6 feet of water, 335 00:17:21,966 --> 00:17:25,233 and none of this construction is, by law, 336 00:17:25,266 --> 00:17:27,466 required to take into account 337 00:17:27,500 --> 00:17:30,500 that sea-level rise within its design. 338 00:17:30,533 --> 00:17:32,300 -So we have to look at infrastructure. 339 00:17:32,333 --> 00:17:35,366 We have to look at building and land-use codes, 340 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:39,966 and we have to do a lot around citizen-resident outreach, 341 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,166 education, information. 342 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:47,566 ♪♪ 343 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:53,000 ♪♪ 344 00:17:53,033 --> 00:17:56,433 -If Miami Beach is underwater within the next century, 345 00:17:56,466 --> 00:17:58,266 these buildings are doomed. 346 00:18:01,866 --> 00:18:03,433 -How much is the real estate in Miami Beach 347 00:18:03,466 --> 00:18:06,466 worth when the beach is gone? 348 00:18:06,500 --> 00:18:10,600 So I think that Miami Beach goes eventually. 349 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,766 If you look at the incomes of people in Miami, 350 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,133 Miami Beach, North Miami, 351 00:18:18,166 --> 00:18:22,166 the high-income zone is still along the saltwater shore zone. 352 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,000 -It's only a matter of time before these houses, 353 00:18:25,033 --> 00:18:29,766 along with their mortgages, end up underwater. 354 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,733 -But when your bathroom doesn't work anymore, 355 00:18:32,766 --> 00:18:35,100 can your house retain its value? 356 00:18:35,133 --> 00:18:37,966 Somebody has to give them the economic signal 357 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,866 that those properties are losing value. 358 00:18:40,900 --> 00:18:43,866 Until they feel it, like, the bank says to them, 359 00:18:43,900 --> 00:18:46,433 "You know what? Your house isn't worth the mortgage 360 00:18:46,466 --> 00:18:49,066 that you have for it," 361 00:18:49,100 --> 00:18:52,133 so we'll see what happens to a lot of people 362 00:18:52,166 --> 00:18:58,000 as this slower-moving trend starts to become a real issue 363 00:18:58,033 --> 00:19:03,366 in the very thin crust of infrastructure in Miami. 364 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,566 -Today, developers continue to build 365 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,166 on Miami's most vulnerable ground, 366 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,066 and buyers keep demanding those condos with a view, 367 00:19:12,100 --> 00:19:15,033 but developers are focused on the immediate future, 368 00:19:15,066 --> 00:19:17,166 not beyond. 369 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:23,166 There's no long-range plan other than build, sell, repeat. 370 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,166 -So are these pieces of real estate 371 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:26,500 the equivalent of junk bonds? 372 00:19:26,533 --> 00:19:27,933 Are these investments that people are never 373 00:19:27,966 --> 00:19:29,233 going to see a return on? 374 00:19:29,266 --> 00:19:31,633 At some point, the Miami real-estate market 375 00:19:31,666 --> 00:19:34,700 is going to really have to start integrating accurately 376 00:19:34,733 --> 00:19:40,833 the price of rising sea levels into how much stuff costs. 377 00:19:40,866 --> 00:19:43,066 -That may already be happening. 378 00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:45,666 A recent study found that houses on the coast 379 00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:50,233 now sell for seven percent less than houses in the interior, 380 00:19:50,266 --> 00:19:54,866 but what isn't changing is the high demand for property here. 381 00:19:54,900 --> 00:19:56,766 -So who's buying in Miami? 382 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,700 Well, the honest answer is that, sometimes, we really don't know. 383 00:19:59,733 --> 00:20:01,500 Miami has two property markets. 384 00:20:01,533 --> 00:20:03,400 One is the market for people like you and me 385 00:20:03,433 --> 00:20:05,000 who are looking for a place to live, 386 00:20:05,033 --> 00:20:08,066 and the other is the market for the world's one percent. 387 00:20:08,100 --> 00:20:10,666 They're looking for a place to plunk their money. 388 00:20:10,700 --> 00:20:14,100 Something like two-thirds of the properties in the city 389 00:20:14,133 --> 00:20:16,800 are actually owned by limited-liability corporations 390 00:20:16,833 --> 00:20:18,733 whose providence is opaque. 391 00:20:18,766 --> 00:20:20,800 We don't know who owns these places. 392 00:20:20,833 --> 00:20:23,900 It's a great haven for offshore funny money 393 00:20:23,933 --> 00:20:25,466 from developing countries 394 00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:28,366 and people trying to escape taxes in those places, 395 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,466 putting money in Miami. 396 00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:32,066 -Miami is no stranger 397 00:20:32,100 --> 00:20:35,700 to resourceful if not shady business deals. 398 00:20:35,733 --> 00:20:40,133 Its very inception was a huge risk. 399 00:20:40,166 --> 00:20:42,133 -If you look at Miami-Dade County today, 400 00:20:42,166 --> 00:20:46,700 you've got millions of people living in what was the swamp. 401 00:20:46,733 --> 00:20:52,266 This map depicts Florida at the time of 1835 to 1842. 402 00:20:52,300 --> 00:20:54,033 The Everglades was massive. 403 00:20:54,066 --> 00:20:57,133 It measured from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay, 404 00:20:57,166 --> 00:21:00,000 about 4 million acres of swampland. 405 00:21:00,033 --> 00:21:02,800 There were mosquitoes everywhere, so again, 406 00:21:02,833 --> 00:21:04,133 there's just really nobody here. 407 00:21:04,166 --> 00:21:06,000 There's really -- Other than the coastal area, 408 00:21:06,033 --> 00:21:08,333 there's no place you can really live. 409 00:21:08,366 --> 00:21:10,066 You can't live in the swamp. 410 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:19,100 -In 1891, an Ohio businesswoman named Julia Tuttle moved there 411 00:21:19,133 --> 00:21:22,366 and began lobbying another Ohioan, Henry Flagler, 412 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,100 to extend his railroad to the coast. 413 00:21:26,133 --> 00:21:29,066 Flagler enlisted Bohemian and other migrant workers 414 00:21:29,100 --> 00:21:30,533 to build the railway, 415 00:21:30,566 --> 00:21:35,166 which reached the Atlantic coast by 1896. 416 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,366 Then, in the early 1900s, 417 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,633 another entrepreneur from the north, Carl G. Fisher, 418 00:21:40,666 --> 00:21:43,200 arrived and really got things going. 419 00:21:46,666 --> 00:21:48,833 Fisher cut down the mangrove forests 420 00:21:48,866 --> 00:21:53,933 and dredged sand from the bottom of the bay to fill the swamp. 421 00:21:53,966 --> 00:21:56,033 Miami Beach was born. 422 00:21:59,766 --> 00:22:03,400 Carl Fisher turned a swamp into a dream, 423 00:22:03,433 --> 00:22:07,866 and almost immediately, Miami's fragile beginnings crack 424 00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:10,633 with the arrival of a devastating storm. 425 00:22:10,666 --> 00:22:13,200 [ Thunder rumbles ] 426 00:22:13,233 --> 00:22:15,900 -The Miami hurricane of 1926, 427 00:22:15,933 --> 00:22:17,866 it did tremendous destruction to the area. 428 00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:20,266 The damage was unreal. 429 00:22:20,300 --> 00:22:22,400 An estimated 10,000 people were homeless 430 00:22:22,433 --> 00:22:25,300 and thousands of structures uninhabitable at the time. 431 00:22:25,333 --> 00:22:27,566 The flooding was incredibly severe. 432 00:22:29,933 --> 00:22:34,400 -Over 300 people died in that 1926 hurricane. 433 00:22:34,433 --> 00:22:36,100 Adjusted for inflation, 434 00:22:36,133 --> 00:22:40,033 it caused more than $100 billion worth of damage. 435 00:22:40,066 --> 00:22:43,200 [ Waves crashing ] 436 00:22:43,233 --> 00:22:47,466 Hurricanes hit Florida from June to November every year, 437 00:22:47,500 --> 00:22:50,066 but the biggest storm of all still strikes fear 438 00:22:50,100 --> 00:22:53,366 into the hearts of South Floridians, 439 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,333 Hurricane Andrew in 1992. 440 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,933 It's a night that changed the lives 441 00:23:02,966 --> 00:23:06,566 of Miami's Petersen family. 442 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,100 -The evening before the storm hit, we were -- 443 00:23:10,133 --> 00:23:11,266 -I think we were at a store. 444 00:23:11,300 --> 00:23:12,600 -We were out to dinner, I believe. 445 00:23:12,633 --> 00:23:13,766 -Something, but... -And then... 446 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:14,633 -...we didn't take it as seriously. 447 00:23:14,666 --> 00:23:16,266 -...we heard the news, 448 00:23:16,300 --> 00:23:19,100 was on maybe the television that was in the restaurant, 449 00:23:19,133 --> 00:23:21,000 and it said that Hurricane Andrew 450 00:23:21,033 --> 00:23:25,166 has taken a severe turn to the west. 451 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,266 -But Hurricane Andrew suddenly changed course and intensified, 452 00:23:29,300 --> 00:23:32,333 confounding the experts. 453 00:23:32,366 --> 00:23:35,333 The state quickly called for an evacuation of more 454 00:23:35,366 --> 00:23:37,833 than a million residents. 455 00:23:37,866 --> 00:23:39,433 -The police came, and they said, 456 00:23:39,466 --> 00:23:42,233 "If you're not leaving, give us next of kin, please," so -- 457 00:23:42,266 --> 00:23:44,100 -That kind of sealed the deal. 458 00:23:44,133 --> 00:23:46,900 -But the Petersens, unable to move quickly enough, 459 00:23:46,933 --> 00:23:49,033 found themselves trapped in their home 460 00:23:49,066 --> 00:23:51,833 with no way to protect their young son. 461 00:23:51,866 --> 00:23:54,233 -This is Bryan. He was 4. 462 00:23:54,266 --> 00:23:55,866 -So get in your closets. 463 00:23:55,900 --> 00:23:59,600 Put the mattresses over the opening of the closet 464 00:23:59,633 --> 00:24:01,733 and protect yourself from any debris 465 00:24:01,766 --> 00:24:05,733 when your windows break, and your windows will break. 466 00:24:05,766 --> 00:24:09,300 -I remember my dad having to carry me on his shoulders, 467 00:24:09,333 --> 00:24:11,633 the water being so high that it was up to his chest, 468 00:24:11,666 --> 00:24:14,633 and me sitting on his shoulders, I could feel it on my toes, 469 00:24:14,666 --> 00:24:18,133 and I'll never forget how cold the water was. 470 00:24:18,166 --> 00:24:19,666 I remember the roof being gone. 471 00:24:19,700 --> 00:24:21,466 I remember the entire neighborhood 472 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:23,566 looked like somebody had just flattened it 473 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,300 out of a pop-up book. 474 00:24:27,866 --> 00:24:29,900 -And I remember my son saying, 475 00:24:29,933 --> 00:24:32,966 "You can go through a hurricane and think you die." 476 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,300 Just -- -Yes. 477 00:24:35,333 --> 00:24:39,266 -Because we put pillows on him in case any -- 478 00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:44,733 It was scary, still bring tears to me. 479 00:24:44,766 --> 00:24:47,400 -A wall of seawater rushed in. 480 00:24:47,433 --> 00:24:50,133 173-mile-per-hour winds 481 00:24:50,166 --> 00:24:52,866 sent deadly debris hurtling through the air. 482 00:24:56,266 --> 00:24:58,466 -The middle of the night while we were watching out the window, 483 00:24:58,500 --> 00:24:59,800 we saw the green lightning, 484 00:24:59,833 --> 00:25:01,533 which wasn't really green lightning. 485 00:25:01,566 --> 00:25:04,133 It was the power substations exploding. 486 00:25:04,166 --> 00:25:05,733 [ Explosion in distance ] 487 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:15,366 -Andrew left Miami in ruins, 25,000 houses destroyed, 488 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,933 more than 100,000 others damaged. 489 00:25:18,966 --> 00:25:20,966 It left 15 people dead. 490 00:25:23,433 --> 00:25:25,233 -The building code had been insufficient 491 00:25:25,266 --> 00:25:27,300 for that type of a windstorm, 492 00:25:27,333 --> 00:25:28,900 so structures were built in a way 493 00:25:28,933 --> 00:25:32,566 that the roofs weren't capable, you know, flew right off. 494 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,966 There was plenty evidence of what we needed to do 495 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,100 to tighten up our building code and other standards. 496 00:25:40,133 --> 00:25:45,066 -The damages were enormous, totaling $27 billion, 497 00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:49,466 enough to put eight insurance companies out of business. 498 00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:52,833 At the time, it was the most expensive natural disaster 499 00:25:52,866 --> 00:25:55,066 to strike the United States, 500 00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:59,000 only surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 501 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,966 Now, as sea levels rise, the storm surge experienced 502 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,966 when Andrew hit would be even more devastating. 503 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:11,433 A quarter century later, 504 00:26:11,466 --> 00:26:14,033 Miami is still not fully prepared. 505 00:26:14,066 --> 00:26:20,800 ♪♪ 506 00:26:20,833 --> 00:26:23,933 September 7, 2017 -- 507 00:26:23,966 --> 00:26:27,366 Hurricane Irma barreled toward Miami. 508 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,933 It was the ninth named storm of the year for this area. 509 00:26:34,233 --> 00:26:36,166 -We were thinking of water surge of, 510 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:37,900 I don't know, 20, 30 feet, 511 00:26:37,933 --> 00:26:39,566 which means, I mean, it's a whole house. 512 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,900 It's gone. I was prepared for the worst. 513 00:26:42,933 --> 00:26:45,600 -Facing the prospect of a category 5, 514 00:26:45,633 --> 00:26:48,066 the most intense storm possible, 515 00:26:48,100 --> 00:26:51,900 Miami did the only thing it could, evacuate. 516 00:26:51,933 --> 00:27:01,966 ♪♪ 517 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,133 Irma battered the city with powerful winds. 518 00:27:05,166 --> 00:27:07,400 Water poured into the streets. 519 00:27:07,433 --> 00:27:09,900 Nearly the entire city went dark. 520 00:27:09,933 --> 00:27:15,500 ♪♪ 521 00:27:15,533 --> 00:27:17,600 In the aftermath of that storm, 522 00:27:17,633 --> 00:27:22,166 Miami was forced to reckon with catastrophic damage. 523 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,500 -This road was completely flooded, completely. 524 00:27:26,533 --> 00:27:32,833 We're talking 2 feet height of water. 525 00:27:32,866 --> 00:27:34,466 -But the most shocking fact 526 00:27:34,500 --> 00:27:37,766 was that Irma didn't even hit Miami directly. 527 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,433 It shifted course at the last second. 528 00:27:41,466 --> 00:27:45,666 Now even near misses are leaving Miami underwater. 529 00:27:48,733 --> 00:27:50,633 One of Florida's biggest challenges 530 00:27:50,666 --> 00:27:54,466 is a hurricane phenomenon called rapid intensification. 531 00:27:59,133 --> 00:28:03,433 All Atlantic hurricanes start near Africa, 532 00:28:03,466 --> 00:28:05,033 and most grow or dissipate 533 00:28:05,066 --> 00:28:08,133 predictably as they make the crossing, 534 00:28:08,166 --> 00:28:10,766 but as they approach the Gulf of Mexico, 535 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,166 they encounter warmer waters. 536 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,966 Together, with other weather conditions, such as wind shear, 537 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,566 rapid intensification becomes deadly, 538 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,600 and as forecasters know, 539 00:28:22,633 --> 00:28:25,100 it's almost impossible to predict. 540 00:28:25,133 --> 00:28:29,733 -Nightmare scenario is the storm that intensifies rapidly 541 00:28:29,766 --> 00:28:31,666 and catches people by surprise. 542 00:28:34,833 --> 00:28:37,066 -Brian Haus does research in an attempt 543 00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:40,666 to predict rapid intensification with more accuracy. 544 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,233 -The relatively simple explanation is but, 545 00:28:48,266 --> 00:28:50,066 you know, it's the heat coming off the ocean. 546 00:28:50,100 --> 00:28:52,600 The heat takes the form of the temperature, 547 00:28:52,633 --> 00:28:54,733 the sensible heat, we call it, and then 548 00:28:54,766 --> 00:28:57,766 the more critical component for development of a hurricane 549 00:28:57,800 --> 00:28:59,933 is the latent heat, the water that is evaporated, 550 00:28:59,966 --> 00:29:02,866 so I think that's probably the part that may be not as well 551 00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:05,966 understood is really the evaporation at the surface. 552 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,300 Then it's also slowed down by the interaction 553 00:29:08,333 --> 00:29:10,600 with the ocean itself, the waves on the ocean. 554 00:29:10,633 --> 00:29:12,833 That's the friction that it's spinning over. 555 00:29:16,633 --> 00:29:19,200 -Despite centuries of hurricane research, 556 00:29:19,233 --> 00:29:23,700 predicting rapid intensification is still next to impossible. 557 00:29:23,733 --> 00:29:28,466 Cracking that code may help preserve Miami's future. 558 00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:30,966 -And you need to know these things as soon as possible 559 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,466 because you can't make these decisions at the last minute 560 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:36,766 in a place where four million other people 561 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,100 are making the same decision as you, 562 00:29:39,133 --> 00:29:41,000 and there's two roads to get out, 563 00:29:41,033 --> 00:29:43,300 so the sooner we can get good forecasts 564 00:29:43,333 --> 00:29:45,266 that everybody can trust, 565 00:29:45,300 --> 00:29:49,066 the sooner people can make intelligent choices 566 00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:51,066 about whether they're evacuating their house, 567 00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:54,133 to what level they protect their house. 568 00:29:54,166 --> 00:29:57,200 -A wave generator at the Rosenstiel School of Marine 569 00:29:57,233 --> 00:30:00,666 and Atmospheric Sciences allows Haus to collect data 570 00:30:00,700 --> 00:30:03,000 he can't get from real hurricanes. 571 00:30:05,266 --> 00:30:07,166 -What's unique about our facility here is, 572 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,400 we can take a decently sized chunk of water, 573 00:30:10,433 --> 00:30:13,966 and we can recreate controlled hurricane conditions 574 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:15,933 over the top of that chunk of water 575 00:30:15,966 --> 00:30:17,566 and really try to understand 576 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:19,633 what happens right at the interface, 577 00:30:22,066 --> 00:30:25,300 and we can use that information in computer models 578 00:30:25,333 --> 00:30:28,033 to predict the intensity of the storm. 579 00:30:32,033 --> 00:30:33,500 A lot of these processes, 580 00:30:33,533 --> 00:30:35,900 the heat transfer and the spray generation, 581 00:30:35,933 --> 00:30:38,933 all that, are really happening at small scales. 582 00:30:38,966 --> 00:30:41,533 We can create those conditions here, 583 00:30:41,566 --> 00:30:44,033 and we can understand what's happening 584 00:30:44,066 --> 00:30:46,400 right at the interface, this spray that's coming off 585 00:30:46,433 --> 00:30:50,333 and how that contributes to the transfers of heat 586 00:30:50,366 --> 00:30:51,633 up into the storm 587 00:30:51,666 --> 00:30:53,400 and also how it contributes to the way 588 00:30:53,433 --> 00:30:56,900 that the storm feels the friction of the surface. 589 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:02,900 We can generate a wind up 590 00:31:02,933 --> 00:31:05,833 to a really intense category-5 hurricane, 591 00:31:05,866 --> 00:31:07,800 up to 200 miles an hour. 592 00:31:12,033 --> 00:31:13,933 This interface between the air and the water 593 00:31:13,966 --> 00:31:15,533 where a lot of the action happens, 594 00:31:15,566 --> 00:31:18,266 you see all the spray that's starting to be generated here 595 00:31:18,300 --> 00:31:24,500 at these intense conditions that just explode up into the air. 596 00:31:24,533 --> 00:31:26,466 -Haus has learned that sea spray 597 00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:29,633 is a key component of intensification. 598 00:31:29,666 --> 00:31:32,433 When wind kicks up the spray, the heat in it 599 00:31:32,466 --> 00:31:35,266 is transferred to the atmosphere above. 600 00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:37,866 That heat helps fuel the storm. 601 00:31:37,900 --> 00:31:40,700 -There is a significant increase in the amount 602 00:31:40,733 --> 00:31:42,366 of rapid intensification. 603 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,033 This year, it happened with almost every hurricane. 604 00:31:45,066 --> 00:31:47,866 Miami has a lot to worry about in the future. 605 00:31:51,666 --> 00:31:54,933 -Stronger and more frequent hurricanes, 606 00:31:54,966 --> 00:31:59,266 gradual loss of the most exclusive shoreline in Florida, 607 00:31:59,300 --> 00:32:02,833 sunny-day flooding through porous limestone bedrock -- 608 00:32:02,866 --> 00:32:06,500 These are the problems Miami faces. 609 00:32:06,533 --> 00:32:11,600 To survive, Miami needs to adapt and to find new solutions 610 00:32:11,633 --> 00:32:14,366 or risk being lost to the rising sea. 611 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:20,533 ♪♪ 612 00:32:20,566 --> 00:32:22,700 The development along Miami's shores 613 00:32:22,733 --> 00:32:25,800 is still primarily vertical towers rising out 614 00:32:25,833 --> 00:32:29,733 of its Swiss-cheese-limestone foundation. 615 00:32:29,766 --> 00:32:31,600 However, an increasing number of them 616 00:32:31,633 --> 00:32:36,066 are designed with resilience in mind. 617 00:32:36,100 --> 00:32:38,866 -So if you're talking about a dense urban downtown 618 00:32:38,900 --> 00:32:41,433 where you have lots of high-rises, 619 00:32:41,466 --> 00:32:45,566 you can invest in infrastructure to raise things, 620 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,433 build strong flood barriers and pump and piping systems 621 00:32:50,466 --> 00:32:55,166 and raise roads over time to live with that water. 622 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,533 -With our project, Grove at Grand Bay, 623 00:32:57,566 --> 00:33:00,600 we raised the terra firma, 624 00:33:00,633 --> 00:33:05,000 or the ground level, 20 feet into the air. 625 00:33:05,033 --> 00:33:07,200 -The Grove at Grand Bay is one of dozens 626 00:33:07,233 --> 00:33:10,500 of condos being built on the water in Miami, 627 00:33:10,533 --> 00:33:15,366 but it's not like any condo that came before it. 628 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,900 Project leader Kai Uwe-Bergmann's design 629 00:33:17,933 --> 00:33:20,700 is part of Miami's ambitious new building code 630 00:33:20,733 --> 00:33:24,200 for the 21st century. 631 00:33:24,233 --> 00:33:26,100 -Because of sea-level rise, 632 00:33:26,133 --> 00:33:29,133 the city is literally acknowledging 633 00:33:29,166 --> 00:33:31,400 that that will occur and that properties 634 00:33:31,433 --> 00:33:35,000 that are being developed now actually move higher. 635 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,366 -All-new developments along the city's coast 636 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,900 must be raised by almost 13 feet. 637 00:33:42,933 --> 00:33:45,666 They must also be built to withstand flooding without 638 00:33:45,700 --> 00:33:51,033 being crippled in the event of a 15-foot storm surge. 639 00:33:51,066 --> 00:33:53,100 -The plan does stipulate 640 00:33:53,133 --> 00:33:56,333 that any of the sort of mechanical rooms 641 00:33:56,366 --> 00:34:02,533 are above the flood stage or, in this case, the ground floor. 642 00:34:02,566 --> 00:34:04,533 -Miami's plan is just a Band-Aid 643 00:34:04,566 --> 00:34:07,166 in the face of rising seas. 644 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,900 The city needs to look much further into the future 645 00:34:09,933 --> 00:34:13,866 if it hopes to survive the inevitable. 646 00:34:13,900 --> 00:34:16,699 -So we have a citizen sea-level-rise 647 00:34:16,733 --> 00:34:20,433 advisory committee that is made up of engineers, 648 00:34:20,466 --> 00:34:25,766 ecosystem naturalists, land-use attorney, architect, developer, 649 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,033 someone representing some of our low-income communities, 650 00:34:29,066 --> 00:34:31,366 and they're advising us on public policies, 651 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,100 advising our commission on how to approach it. 652 00:34:35,133 --> 00:34:38,300 -But it'll take much more than committees and consultations 653 00:34:38,333 --> 00:34:42,966 to stop the water that's already at Miami's doorstep. 654 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,666 -You can't escape it. 655 00:34:44,699 --> 00:34:49,199 Water is coming from the side, from below, from above, 656 00:34:51,333 --> 00:34:53,566 and I think Miami is at that point 657 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:54,966 where they've got to decide, 658 00:34:55,000 --> 00:35:00,033 "How do we solve the issues of sea-level rise?" 659 00:35:00,066 --> 00:35:04,300 I do, however, think that we as humans, 660 00:35:04,333 --> 00:35:09,133 if we're posed a challenge and there's a way to solve it, 661 00:35:09,166 --> 00:35:12,933 we will find the energy, the resources to do it. 662 00:35:12,966 --> 00:35:19,033 ♪♪ 663 00:35:19,066 --> 00:35:20,466 -While coastal real estate 664 00:35:20,500 --> 00:35:23,666 has always been Miami-Dade's most desirable, 665 00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:26,166 some buyers now prefer higher ground 666 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,500 where they won't be as affected by flooding, 667 00:35:28,533 --> 00:35:32,800 whether from storm surge or from rising sea level. 668 00:35:32,833 --> 00:35:36,500 The term climate gentrification has been coined to describe 669 00:35:36,533 --> 00:35:38,766 how some people move away from the shore 670 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:41,900 into traditionally less desirable lower-income 671 00:35:41,933 --> 00:35:44,566 neighborhoods. 672 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,833 -Liberty City is a predominantly African-American 673 00:35:47,866 --> 00:35:49,900 and Latino community. 674 00:35:49,933 --> 00:35:51,566 When they originally built Miami, 675 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,266 the beach was supposed to be for the affluent, tourists 676 00:35:54,300 --> 00:35:58,300 and things like that, so we were not allowed to be on the beach. 677 00:35:58,333 --> 00:36:00,600 Because of racism and redlining, 678 00:36:00,633 --> 00:36:02,800 they pushed us to the center of the city... 679 00:36:02,833 --> 00:36:12,266 ♪♪ 680 00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:13,933 ...and now they're trying to take it away 681 00:36:13,966 --> 00:36:15,533 after all these years 682 00:36:15,566 --> 00:36:19,566 when they didn't want it because the place that they love so much 683 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,800 is going to be underwater. 684 00:36:22,833 --> 00:36:26,066 We're starting to see a lot of developers come in 685 00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:31,333 and buy up blocks at a time, taking over communities. 686 00:36:31,366 --> 00:36:34,200 -The gentrification that's been transforming neighborhoods 687 00:36:34,233 --> 00:36:38,966 across America has taken a unique twist in Miami. 688 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,666 -Climate-change gentrification in Miami 689 00:36:40,700 --> 00:36:42,466 would be funny if it weren't so sad. 690 00:36:42,500 --> 00:36:46,966 It's the sort of thing where, because of redlining and racist 691 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,800 housing practices historically in the United States, 692 00:36:50,833 --> 00:36:52,666 you have minorities being confined 693 00:36:52,700 --> 00:36:56,400 to the less desirable areas on the coastal ridge 694 00:36:56,433 --> 00:36:57,766 away from the nice beaches 695 00:36:57,800 --> 00:36:59,633 and the nice sea breezes and stuff, 696 00:36:59,666 --> 00:37:00,933 and now that everybody is realizing, 697 00:37:00,966 --> 00:37:02,433 "Like, hey, man, this whole beach thing 698 00:37:02,466 --> 00:37:04,433 might not really work out while the water is rising," 699 00:37:04,466 --> 00:37:09,033 these areas have been gentrified in an amazingly rapid rate. 700 00:37:09,066 --> 00:37:11,966 -My family has been in Miami for generations. 701 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,866 -Gunder is worried that climate-change gentrification 702 00:37:14,900 --> 00:37:17,833 will force her and her neighbors from their homes 703 00:37:17,866 --> 00:37:21,666 and erase a vital part of Miami's culture. 704 00:37:21,700 --> 00:37:23,266 -My family has been in Overtown. 705 00:37:23,300 --> 00:37:24,866 They've been in Liberty City. 706 00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:29,600 They've been in Lemon City, been in Little Haiti for years. 707 00:37:29,633 --> 00:37:33,733 My Miami is the west side of the causeway 708 00:37:33,766 --> 00:37:35,566 where the cameras usually don't come 709 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:40,600 or people don't think about when they think about Miami. 710 00:37:40,633 --> 00:37:43,600 My Miami is everyday working people, 711 00:37:43,633 --> 00:37:46,600 hundreds of cultures, children playing outside. 712 00:37:46,633 --> 00:37:48,033 It doesn't look like South Beach. 713 00:37:48,066 --> 00:37:51,166 It's not lined with beautiful palm trees 714 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:56,800 and million-dollar hotels and a beautiful, clean beach. 715 00:37:56,833 --> 00:37:59,033 Even though we're 15 minutes away from the beach, 716 00:37:59,066 --> 00:38:01,700 I can name hundreds of people who've never been there, 717 00:38:01,733 --> 00:38:05,300 and they've been here their entire lives. 718 00:38:05,333 --> 00:38:08,566 -60 percent of Miami is living paycheck 719 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:10,600 to paycheck to paycheck, 720 00:38:10,633 --> 00:38:14,266 and fully 66 percent of the city rents. 721 00:38:14,300 --> 00:38:16,133 They don't own their house. 722 00:38:16,166 --> 00:38:19,166 -Which leaves people like Valencia Gunder no choice 723 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,600 but to move to a more vulnerable area 724 00:38:21,633 --> 00:38:24,333 as the money moves into her neighborhood. 725 00:38:24,366 --> 00:38:26,566 -Now all of the working-class families in Miami 726 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:29,433 or most are being pushed to lower-lying areas, 727 00:38:29,466 --> 00:38:31,033 so if you have a sunny-day flooding 728 00:38:31,066 --> 00:38:34,066 or even a very rainy incident, it's going to take you twice 729 00:38:34,100 --> 00:38:37,366 as long to get from your house to work. 730 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:38,666 That's a cost on society. 731 00:38:38,700 --> 00:38:40,633 That's a burden. 732 00:38:40,666 --> 00:38:43,766 -Rich or poor, officials in Miami face the challenge 733 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:45,233 of making sure everyone 734 00:38:45,266 --> 00:38:48,400 is protected from Miami's rising sea. 735 00:38:48,433 --> 00:38:51,500 -We are currently designing infrastructure 736 00:38:51,533 --> 00:38:53,700 for the next 40 to 50 years 737 00:38:53,733 --> 00:38:58,866 to 2, 2 1/2 feet of sea-level rise over that time. 738 00:38:58,900 --> 00:39:00,300 We don't know what's going to happen 739 00:39:00,333 --> 00:39:02,466 in the next 40 to 50 years. 740 00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:04,133 Projections are going to change. 741 00:39:04,166 --> 00:39:06,633 We're going to have to recalibrate our projections 742 00:39:06,666 --> 00:39:10,600 every 5 years based on new scientific information. 743 00:39:10,633 --> 00:39:11,800 Policy can happen. 744 00:39:11,833 --> 00:39:15,200 Technology can happen, and frankly, you know, 745 00:39:15,233 --> 00:39:17,900 most cities, a long-range plan is a 20-year plan. 746 00:39:17,933 --> 00:39:21,366 We're doing a 40-to-50-year plan. 747 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:25,166 -Miami Beach is fighting sea-level rise on three fronts 748 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,933 with one of the most ambitious public-works projects 749 00:39:27,966 --> 00:39:29,633 in the United States. 750 00:39:29,666 --> 00:39:37,166 ♪♪ 751 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:40,600 -This is a very exciting time for an engineer 752 00:39:40,633 --> 00:39:42,800 to actually see what they've designed 753 00:39:42,833 --> 00:39:45,133 and actually seeing it actually come together. 754 00:39:45,166 --> 00:39:49,366 [ Indistinct conversation ] 755 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,933 -When Bruce Mowry was the chief engineer of Miami Beach, 756 00:39:52,966 --> 00:39:56,400 he had the Herculean task of keeping the most vulnerable area 757 00:39:56,433 --> 00:39:58,533 in all of Miami dry. 758 00:39:58,566 --> 00:40:04,133 ♪♪ 759 00:40:04,166 --> 00:40:07,000 He oversaw the installation of a series of pumps 760 00:40:07,033 --> 00:40:08,866 along Indian Creek Drive 761 00:40:08,900 --> 00:40:12,800 following a canal just west of the beach. 762 00:40:12,833 --> 00:40:16,133 It's part of a huge new pumping system. 763 00:40:16,166 --> 00:40:17,933 -We have a total of about 70, 764 00:40:17,966 --> 00:40:20,466 so we're going to be building about 40 more pump stations 765 00:40:20,500 --> 00:40:24,633 throughout the city over the next 3 to 5 years. 766 00:40:24,666 --> 00:40:27,533 This will sustain a much drier street for us 767 00:40:27,566 --> 00:40:28,766 and a better quality of life 768 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,700 for our residents and businesses. 769 00:40:33,133 --> 00:40:36,266 -The pumps are part of a $500 million initiative 770 00:40:36,300 --> 00:40:39,266 to send seawater from the streets into the nearby 771 00:40:39,300 --> 00:40:43,433 canals at a rate of about 5 million gallons per minute, 772 00:40:43,466 --> 00:40:46,100 reducing the impact of king tides. 773 00:40:49,966 --> 00:40:53,100 Miami's first challenge is to get all that water 774 00:40:53,133 --> 00:40:56,033 out of the city and back into Biscayne Bay. 775 00:40:58,166 --> 00:41:00,966 -And the way that it works is, after the pump station treats 776 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:05,566 the water collected from the entire drainage system, 777 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,066 that pump station pushes the water 778 00:41:08,100 --> 00:41:09,433 through an underground system 779 00:41:09,466 --> 00:41:12,700 and discharges into the bay after treating it. 780 00:41:12,733 --> 00:41:14,833 -The water from the pump station gets sent 781 00:41:14,866 --> 00:41:18,000 to a treatment station south of the city's core 782 00:41:18,033 --> 00:41:21,700 where it gets purified with waste held in tanks. 783 00:41:21,733 --> 00:41:26,166 The clean water then gets pumped back into Biscayne Bay. 784 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,466 -We can't retreat 1 inch. 785 00:41:28,500 --> 00:41:30,800 We don't have any land available to say, 786 00:41:30,833 --> 00:41:32,700 "We'll let that part go." 787 00:41:32,733 --> 00:41:36,900 We need to defend at the waterfront now. 788 00:41:36,933 --> 00:41:40,233 -The second front of the plan involves raising seawalls 789 00:41:40,266 --> 00:41:43,866 along Miami's canals and creeks. 790 00:41:43,900 --> 00:41:47,233 -This wall was constructed approximately 75 years ago, 791 00:41:47,266 --> 00:41:50,566 and this was the level of which they were anticipating tides 792 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:52,166 or high waters to come in. 793 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,033 During high tide, water will actually come over it, 794 00:41:55,066 --> 00:41:57,300 and so we're looking at a wall well over 4, 795 00:41:57,333 --> 00:41:59,666 almost 5 feet higher than the existing walls 796 00:41:59,700 --> 00:42:01,866 built 75 to 100 years ago. 797 00:42:01,900 --> 00:42:03,166 We believe it's necessary 798 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:06,100 because of what to be expected sea-level rise, 799 00:42:06,133 --> 00:42:09,166 that this is going to be our standard requirements. 800 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,866 This is a very direct indication of how climate change 801 00:42:12,900 --> 00:42:16,866 and sea-level rise is changing the conditions in this world. 802 00:42:16,900 --> 00:42:19,733 -But because of Miami's porous foundation, 803 00:42:19,766 --> 00:42:23,400 even Miami's chief resilience officer, Jane Gilbert, 804 00:42:23,433 --> 00:42:25,566 is skeptical that raising seawalls 805 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:28,700 is an effective long-term solution. 806 00:42:28,733 --> 00:42:29,933 -Even if you have the barrier there, 807 00:42:29,966 --> 00:42:31,966 the water comes up from behind 808 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,666 and creates its own flooding event, 809 00:42:34,700 --> 00:42:38,500 so we need to learn over time to live with that water. 810 00:42:41,700 --> 00:42:44,733 -Living with the reality of rising water requires 811 00:42:44,766 --> 00:42:48,466 a third front in the battle, something far more radical. 812 00:42:50,633 --> 00:42:52,066 -What the city has done is, 813 00:42:52,100 --> 00:42:54,133 they actually went into some of those low-lying streets 814 00:42:54,166 --> 00:42:56,266 and started raising them incrementally. 815 00:42:56,300 --> 00:42:59,933 Now what we're raising today may not be the final elevation 816 00:42:59,966 --> 00:43:01,533 50 to 100 years from now, 817 00:43:01,566 --> 00:43:04,333 but it's not appropriate to try to raise 818 00:43:04,366 --> 00:43:09,566 in a developed city all at one time. 819 00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,700 -The greatest challenge in Miami Beach 820 00:43:11,733 --> 00:43:14,000 is the substrate of our soil. 821 00:43:14,033 --> 00:43:16,666 We live on a barrier island made out of limestone, 822 00:43:16,700 --> 00:43:18,233 coral and sand. 823 00:43:18,266 --> 00:43:21,333 The water is coming up as much as it's coming over any seawall, 824 00:43:21,366 --> 00:43:23,266 and if we don't elevate our land 825 00:43:23,300 --> 00:43:27,033 and literally have our infrastructure above the water, 826 00:43:27,066 --> 00:43:29,133 it's going to come in and flood anyway. 827 00:43:29,166 --> 00:43:31,633 -The best example of elevation can be found 828 00:43:31,666 --> 00:43:35,000 in Miami Beach's Sunset Harbour neighborhood. 829 00:43:35,033 --> 00:43:36,533 -This was the most vulnerable area 830 00:43:36,566 --> 00:43:38,200 of our community at the time. 831 00:43:38,233 --> 00:43:41,833 The area we're standing in now during high-tide events 832 00:43:41,866 --> 00:43:43,600 would be water in the streets. 833 00:43:43,633 --> 00:43:46,400 We literally see people kayaking in the streets. 834 00:43:46,433 --> 00:43:48,500 It was so low, so we started here, 835 00:43:48,533 --> 00:43:52,900 and this area was raised 30 inches in many spots. 836 00:43:52,933 --> 00:43:55,166 -This restaurant's patio was once popular 837 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,366 for people-watching. 838 00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:00,233 Now its tables are below street level. 839 00:44:00,266 --> 00:44:02,533 -The elevation difference between where I'm standing 840 00:44:02,566 --> 00:44:04,000 and what you can see 841 00:44:04,033 --> 00:44:07,433 was the original elevation of the sidewalks and streets, 842 00:44:07,466 --> 00:44:09,600 so when we finished these neighborhoods, 843 00:44:09,633 --> 00:44:12,733 we bring soil in from the mainland. 844 00:44:12,766 --> 00:44:15,133 We installed underground pipes. 845 00:44:15,166 --> 00:44:17,833 We'll build our roadbed, our drainage structure 846 00:44:17,866 --> 00:44:21,533 and pave the road, and it'll be 30 inches higher. 847 00:44:21,566 --> 00:44:26,300 -Sunset Harbour is a 6-block neighborhood in South Beach. 848 00:44:26,333 --> 00:44:31,000 Raising the streets there took 2 years and $27 million. 849 00:44:31,033 --> 00:44:33,133 -That's 2 years of roads blocked, 850 00:44:33,166 --> 00:44:36,300 lot of dust from road construction, noise, 851 00:44:36,333 --> 00:44:40,033 just interrupting normal life routine, but the bottom line -- 852 00:44:40,066 --> 00:44:43,400 They suffer 2 years to rebuild a community like this 853 00:44:43,433 --> 00:44:45,900 in exchange for 30 years of security. 854 00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:53,200 -Many believe it's too little too late 855 00:44:53,233 --> 00:44:56,366 and that a 30-year life span is too short 856 00:44:56,400 --> 00:44:59,266 before the rising seas force Miami Beach 857 00:44:59,300 --> 00:45:01,166 to do it all over again. 858 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:09,700 ♪♪ 859 00:45:09,733 --> 00:45:12,900 -The problem is that sea-level rise is going to continue, 860 00:45:12,933 --> 00:45:16,700 so raising your city is kind of like walking a plank. 861 00:45:16,733 --> 00:45:19,466 It works as long as you don't get to the end of it, 862 00:45:19,500 --> 00:45:23,533 and the sea-level-rise dynamic is going to continue, 863 00:45:23,566 --> 00:45:27,533 so I don't think they can raise themselves out of the problem 864 00:45:27,566 --> 00:45:32,866 maybe more than 3, 5 feet, and even with that, 865 00:45:32,900 --> 00:45:35,933 they have to be ready for serious hurricanes 866 00:45:35,966 --> 00:45:40,900 and the more extreme rainfall events project for the future, 867 00:45:40,933 --> 00:45:42,966 which are raising their groundwater, 868 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:46,333 and that's a very important piece of the flooding problem. 869 00:45:49,033 --> 00:45:52,566 -One of Hill's strategies for living with rising groundwater 870 00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:55,466 has already been tested in the Netherlands. 871 00:45:55,500 --> 00:45:58,366 -I think that we can use earthworks, 872 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:04,200 landforms to structure areas that are safe where water ponds, 873 00:46:04,233 --> 00:46:08,100 and then we can float urban districts in those safe ponds. 874 00:46:08,133 --> 00:46:11,066 I'm not talking about floating stuff in the Atlantic Ocean. 875 00:46:13,166 --> 00:46:15,666 And the Dutch idea of canals is a great one 876 00:46:15,700 --> 00:46:19,333 because it mostly relies on gravity to drain groundwater 877 00:46:19,366 --> 00:46:23,000 out of high-water-table zones, but that would be a way 878 00:46:23,033 --> 00:46:26,933 for us to adapt to living with more water. 879 00:46:26,966 --> 00:46:30,100 -Miami-Dade Chief Resilience Officer James Murley 880 00:46:30,133 --> 00:46:32,700 has looked at the Dutch model of building dikes, 881 00:46:32,733 --> 00:46:36,866 canals and levies but doesn't think that it will work in Miami 882 00:46:36,900 --> 00:46:39,000 due to its unique geology. 883 00:46:39,033 --> 00:46:45,066 -The idea of building dikes or levies with the porous limestone 884 00:46:45,100 --> 00:46:47,400 means that they're not going to be nearly as efficient 885 00:46:47,433 --> 00:46:51,166 as dikes and levies in other parts of the country. 886 00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:55,133 They will have an effect of lessening 887 00:46:55,166 --> 00:46:58,333 an onrushing storm surge, but the water itself 888 00:46:58,366 --> 00:47:01,266 is going to go right underneath through the lime rock 889 00:47:01,300 --> 00:47:03,566 and is going to raise the freshwater water table, 890 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:09,466 and, you know, it's a situation that is unique to our geology, 891 00:47:09,500 --> 00:47:13,766 and we have to work with that as we move forward. 892 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,100 -You can elevate houses. You can elevate buildings. 893 00:47:16,133 --> 00:47:18,100 You can elevate roads. 894 00:47:18,133 --> 00:47:20,666 People are doing it all over the country, all over the world. 895 00:47:20,700 --> 00:47:23,000 They're elevating whole buildings, 896 00:47:23,033 --> 00:47:28,033 but can you elevate all of the buildings of Miami Beach? 897 00:47:28,066 --> 00:47:30,633 I don't know, and if you elevate it 898 00:47:30,666 --> 00:47:34,733 and the limestone underneath is all full of saltwater, 899 00:47:34,766 --> 00:47:38,033 you're going to have to pump water from way inland, 900 00:47:38,066 --> 00:47:41,600 so there are all these things that you have to consider. 901 00:47:41,633 --> 00:47:43,966 -The City of Miami Beach is committed 902 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,233 and planning to overcome the challenges long-term, 903 00:47:47,266 --> 00:47:49,466 no matter what the cost. 904 00:47:49,500 --> 00:47:52,600 -All the South Florida people are very strong-willed, 905 00:47:52,633 --> 00:47:54,000 resilient people. 906 00:47:54,033 --> 00:47:56,633 The people in this community, in Miami Beach, 907 00:47:56,666 --> 00:47:59,966 have determined that retreat from sea-level rise 908 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,233 is not an option at this point. 909 00:48:02,266 --> 00:48:05,033 We will rise above, and we will stay. 910 00:48:05,066 --> 00:48:10,633 ♪♪ 911 00:48:10,666 --> 00:48:12,900 -One building here is a shining example 912 00:48:12,933 --> 00:48:16,433 of what Miami could do to face the future. 913 00:48:16,466 --> 00:48:20,166 The Pérez Art Museum opened in 2013 914 00:48:20,200 --> 00:48:23,800 when the reality of a sinking storm-battered Miami 915 00:48:23,833 --> 00:48:26,833 became accepted by most residents. 916 00:48:26,866 --> 00:48:30,533 The museum's designers faced that challenge head-on. 917 00:48:32,966 --> 00:48:35,066 -Here, we're standing on the south side of PAMM, 918 00:48:35,100 --> 00:48:38,800 the Pérez Art Museum Miami, right at our front doors. 919 00:48:38,833 --> 00:48:41,666 To the east of me is Biscayne Bay. 920 00:48:41,700 --> 00:48:44,200 We are a modern art museum. 921 00:48:44,233 --> 00:48:47,100 The art starts at 22 feet above sea level 922 00:48:47,133 --> 00:48:49,000 with the second level of art being at 40 feet 923 00:48:49,033 --> 00:48:50,766 above sea level. 924 00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:53,633 The materials that were used are unbelievably solid 925 00:48:53,666 --> 00:48:56,833 to withstand major weather conditions. 926 00:48:56,866 --> 00:48:59,700 Certainly the concrete throughout the entire structure, 927 00:48:59,733 --> 00:49:02,133 any wood that was used on the building could sustain 928 00:49:02,166 --> 00:49:04,166 both wind and water. 929 00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:06,200 -While the structural materials defend 930 00:49:06,233 --> 00:49:08,666 against sea level and storms, 931 00:49:08,700 --> 00:49:12,733 other features work with water, ushering it into cisterns 932 00:49:12,766 --> 00:49:15,100 that are used to irrigate the grounds 933 00:49:15,133 --> 00:49:17,066 and then funneling any access water 934 00:49:17,100 --> 00:49:19,400 quickly back out to the bay. 935 00:49:19,433 --> 00:49:21,300 -As we're walking toward the east of our building, 936 00:49:21,333 --> 00:49:24,100 you'll notice that the ground that we're walking on 937 00:49:24,133 --> 00:49:26,833 are basically like concrete planks. 938 00:49:26,866 --> 00:49:30,466 That's to allow water to flow underneath the structure 939 00:49:30,500 --> 00:49:32,233 to the PAMM garage. 940 00:49:34,933 --> 00:49:38,900 We're at exactly 8 feet above sea level at level zero 941 00:49:38,933 --> 00:49:40,333 in the PAMM garage. 942 00:49:40,366 --> 00:49:43,333 We have a gravel surface here, and the idea behind this 943 00:49:43,366 --> 00:49:48,800 was to allow the water to drain as quickly as possible. 944 00:49:48,833 --> 00:49:50,133 So we do have a generator, 945 00:49:50,166 --> 00:49:52,866 so PAMM will never be without power, 946 00:49:52,900 --> 00:49:55,400 and I think about PAMM a lot of times like a hospital 947 00:49:55,433 --> 00:49:58,133 that we have art that is living and breathing 948 00:49:58,166 --> 00:50:00,266 and needs 70-degree temperature, 949 00:50:00,300 --> 00:50:05,466 50-percent humidity at all times and allows the art to be safe. 950 00:50:08,666 --> 00:50:12,700 -The Pérez Art Museum proved its worth during Irma. 951 00:50:29,833 --> 00:50:31,233 -We've learned a lot. 952 00:50:31,266 --> 00:50:32,800 We've changed our procedures over the years, 953 00:50:32,833 --> 00:50:36,100 but the building has sustained no damage since we've moved in. 954 00:50:36,133 --> 00:50:38,200 We would never change our location. 955 00:50:38,233 --> 00:50:41,966 We wear it as a badge. 956 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:43,800 -The big storm is more frightening 957 00:50:43,833 --> 00:50:46,100 than the gradual rise of water. 958 00:50:50,100 --> 00:50:53,366 Absolutely, and that's why we respond so intensely 959 00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:56,066 to the big storm and the hurricanes. 960 00:50:56,100 --> 00:50:59,366 It's a natural response. 961 00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:00,800 -According to Caldas, 962 00:51:00,833 --> 00:51:04,066 Miamians should be less concerned about hurricanes 963 00:51:04,100 --> 00:51:07,633 and more worried about sea-level rise. 964 00:51:07,666 --> 00:51:11,133 -It is more important to consider tidal flooding 965 00:51:11,166 --> 00:51:12,533 than it is hurricanes. 966 00:51:12,566 --> 00:51:15,500 Hurricane can come or cannot come, 967 00:51:15,533 --> 00:51:17,300 but the tide comes in every day. 968 00:51:19,866 --> 00:51:21,233 It's only getting worse. 969 00:51:21,266 --> 00:51:23,800 The measurements are there. The data are there. 970 00:51:23,833 --> 00:51:26,333 It's only going to get worse and fast. 971 00:51:28,933 --> 00:51:32,033 So we have three options. 972 00:51:32,066 --> 00:51:35,400 We protect. 973 00:51:35,433 --> 00:51:40,233 We try to build berms and walls in different areas. 974 00:51:40,266 --> 00:51:42,000 We accommodate the water. 975 00:51:42,033 --> 00:51:45,233 We build areas that can flood without damage, 976 00:51:45,266 --> 00:51:48,100 or we retreat, which is the, you know, 977 00:51:48,133 --> 00:51:50,966 the last-resort thing that you have to do. 978 00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:54,066 If your place has been flooded 250 times a year, 979 00:51:54,100 --> 00:51:56,033 it's, like, it's time to leave. 980 00:51:56,066 --> 00:51:57,766 We got to get out of here. 981 00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:05,800 -You start thinking, "Okay. What if I don't have my car? 982 00:52:05,833 --> 00:52:09,466 What if I don't have my job?" because if there's no houses 983 00:52:09,500 --> 00:52:14,133 to sell, no condos to sell, that's my livelihood. 984 00:52:14,166 --> 00:52:18,133 What if I don't have a home to return to? 985 00:52:20,500 --> 00:52:22,300 -What we found is, 986 00:52:22,333 --> 00:52:26,766 people are going to ask for the opportunity to retreat. 987 00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:28,266 They weren't being told to leave. 988 00:52:28,300 --> 00:52:30,200 They were saying, "We prefer to leave." 989 00:52:30,233 --> 00:52:35,266 They were willing to sell their property and move. 990 00:52:35,300 --> 00:52:37,233 That could change in the future, 991 00:52:37,266 --> 00:52:40,133 but that's sort of where we find ourselves today, 992 00:52:40,166 --> 00:52:41,800 so there's a lot of thinking going on. 993 00:52:41,833 --> 00:52:47,533 There's a lot of different options being considered. 994 00:52:50,133 --> 00:52:52,266 -Everybody is doom and gloom. 995 00:52:52,300 --> 00:52:54,933 They're all saying, "Sea-level rise, climate change 996 00:52:54,966 --> 00:52:58,666 is going to be the end of all coastal communities. 997 00:52:58,700 --> 00:53:01,466 You'll never, ever be able to save the City of Miami Beach," 998 00:53:01,500 --> 00:53:04,933 and I'm saying, "No, that doesn't have to be." 999 00:53:04,966 --> 00:53:06,733 We got to solve problems. 1000 00:53:06,766 --> 00:53:08,900 We can't just talk about how bad they are 1001 00:53:08,933 --> 00:53:10,633 and how much worse they're going to get. 1002 00:53:10,666 --> 00:53:14,533 We have to also talk about what we're going to do to correct it. 1003 00:53:14,566 --> 00:53:19,000 -Eric Bason says he will stand his ground, no matter what. 1004 00:53:19,033 --> 00:53:20,466 -I'm not planning on moving. 1005 00:53:20,500 --> 00:53:23,966 I plan on fighting for people in my community, 1006 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,200 low-income communities to live the best life possible. 1007 00:53:29,966 --> 00:53:33,600 -I would say that I'm more hopeful than I am worried. 1008 00:53:33,633 --> 00:53:35,533 Maybe that's just because I'm an optimistic, 1009 00:53:35,566 --> 00:53:37,100 positive person, 1010 00:53:37,133 --> 00:53:42,433 but I do see humanity in a way that there's so much potential, 1011 00:53:42,466 --> 00:53:44,233 and there's so much innovation. 1012 00:53:44,266 --> 00:53:47,266 There are solutions that we don't even know exist, 1013 00:53:47,300 --> 00:53:49,766 and once we have the willpower, 1014 00:53:49,800 --> 00:53:52,000 the movement, we're going to find them, 1015 00:53:52,033 --> 00:53:55,900 and America, the world is not going to let Miami go. 1016 00:53:55,933 --> 00:54:00,500 ♪♪ 1017 00:54:02,033 --> 00:54:09,900 ♪♪ 1018 00:54:09,933 --> 00:54:12,133 -To order "Sinking Cities" on DVD, 1019 00:54:12,166 --> 00:54:17,200 visit ShopPBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 1020 00:54:17,233 --> 00:54:21,333 This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video. 1021 00:54:21,366 --> 00:54:30,433 ♪♪