The Cost of Sea-Level Rise

(slow dramatic music)

These are all pictures taken basically

of the same rainfall.

And as the rain keeps on coming for a day or two,

you see it coming up.

I's not even high tide yet.

This is regular rainfall.

Luckily for me,

this house was built in the 80s

and it was built to the new codes.

You see the house is elevated.

The first living floor allowed here

on this street is 13 feet and the road's at three.

Over the years I've raised the house,

the driveway, there used to be four steps here

and I've raised the driveway up.

This is one of the first plats in Miami

so this street was platted in like 1923.

Back then everyone lived up on the ridge

and this was the first development where they put people

down on the bottom.

Where this big house is being built right now,

this was actually water here.

That was where the boats came in.

This was a turning basin,

they just filled they didn't accommodate

for sea level right.

And this is the drain so all the sewer drain,

not septic just water drain right.

And you can see you know

that's the level of the bay.

You're talking 10 inches.

I'll have to check what the tide is right now.

When the tide is high,

the water's at level.

But a regular tide now basically fills this

so if you have any additional water run off

you got no place to go right.

South Florida was targeted

as being the number one place in the world

for economic impact due to flooding.

There are really two businesses here

of any significance, tourism

which the community derives

a great source of income

for building our infrastructure.

And two it comes from property taxes.

So development is a key factor in South Florida.

Miami's a special place.

I grew up here my whole life.

Both my grandparents are Cuban.

They emigrated here in the early 60s

and so I've kind of seen

Miami's growth and evolution.

Thinking about the economic disruption

that water can create.

What are the smartest investments

and where are we gonna get the best returns?

This is one of our developments,

it's called Grove at Grand bay.

We built 25 % of the allowable density.

We increased the taxable revenue to our city,

school board and county from around 500 grand a year

to around 10 to 11 million dollars a year.

The park impact fees

of our Grand Bay project and our Park Grove project

went to contribute the redevelopment of a 17 acre park

called Regatta park.

That I think has improved the permeability

in the neighborhood.

How can I follow a business model

that also allows me to make a positive impact on society

and you know how do you go about doing that

within all the regulatory framework.

One of the approaches that is being taken

is to say hey let's develop our way out of this problem.

The land's value goes up,

you can tax that value.

You can harvest the taxes to build the infrastructure

you need to elevate it and keep it dry.

That would work

provided the sea level rise

we're looking at is small and finite.

What if it's not?

There's always a little bit of fussing to do in here.

Miami Dade County has

a median family income that's

in the range of 45 or 46,000 dollars.

That's very low for a metropolitan area.

And that limits people's ability to weather a storm.

Probably the best way to deal

with climate inequity and risk

is pay people a living wage.

They can start to take care of themselves

and that's when resilience begins to emerge.

Right now we do not have a resilient situation

'cause we have so many people who are under paid.

We moved in here in 2003 and

this was a grassy back yard when we started.

We re-landscaped,

put in this pond and all the native vegetation you see.

It's always important to put things back whenever you can.

Plus we like to swim in the pond.

The fish don't seem to mind too much.

It's not the salt water that makes things difficult

it's the loss of government services.

And if the tax base has been compromised regionally

or locally, either one, quality of life goes down.

And then it's time to get out.

I'm not leaving.

Like I said,

I've been a resident of Miami Beach for 58 years.

There are many in the business community

and even government officials that feel

we shouldn't talk about it.

But it's too late for that.

Everyone's gotta do their part.

It shows that it's got to

be a huge community effort,

government and private to do together

or else we're not gonna get there.