Climate Changed
South Florida’s Real Estate Reckoning Could Be Closer Than You Think
Hurricane Irma showed just how vulnerable South Florida—and some of the nation’s most expensive real estate—is to climate change.
Boats outside Ross Hancock's building that were stranded by Hurricane Irma.
Photographer: Rose Marie Cromwell for BloombergRoss Hancock sold his four-bedroom house in Coral Gables, a city of pastel luxury at the edge of Miami, because he was worried that sea-level rise would eventually hurt his property’s value. He and his wife, Darlene, downsized to a small condo on Biscayne Bay, perched atop one of the highest coral ridges in the area. There, he presumed, they would be safer.
Then Hurricane Irma hit.