Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015
Making development sustainable: The future of disaster risk management


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Part III - Chapter 10
Storm surges like the one experienced during Hurricane Wilma in 2005 are likely to happen more often. With only a one-foot rise in the sea level along Miami-Dade’s coast, the probability of a 7-foot storm surge such as the one observed in Hurricane Wilma is expected to increase from 1 in 76 years to 1 in 21 years (WRI, 2014

WRI (World Resources Institute). 2014,Sea-Level rise and its impact on Miami Dade County, Fact sheet. By Forbes Tompkins and Christina Deconcini.. .
).

However new industrial and residential developments have no trouble finding investors and the required political and regulatory support (Bunten and Khan, 2014

Bunten, Devin and Matthew Kahn. 2014,The Impact of Emerging Climate Risks on Urban Real Estate Price Dynamics, Working Paper 20018. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series. March 2014. Cambridge, MA.. .
; Goodell, 2013

Goodell, Jeff. 2013,Goodbye Miami, Rolling Stone, 20 June 2013.. .
).

In addition, an ageing nuclear power plant south of Miami, built in 1972 when the effects of climate change were not as well understood, could be affected by a sea level rise of just a few feet in the coming years (Figure 10.3). The construction of two new reactors was promoted by the Governor of Florida as recently as May 2014
2 and is being considered by the State Senate despite the fact that the plant has already experienced weatherrelated difficulties, notably during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (Kopytko and Perkins, 2011

Kopytko, Natalie and John Perkins. 2011,Climate change, nuclear power, and the adaptation– mitigation dilemma, Energy Policy 39 (2011): 318-333.. .
; US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1994

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 1994,Information Notice No, 93-53, Supplement 1: Effect of Hurricane Andrew on Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station and Lessons Learned.. .
).
Figure 10.3 Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant threatened by sea level rise
(Source: Peter Harlem, Florida International University.)
the art deco architecture in Slough has gone largely unnoticed and unappreciated,3 in Miami it has been promoted as a core lifestyle value to project coolness and attract investment. Given that the imperative of earning a few dollars more often outweighs considerations of sustainability, this generates increasing levels of intensive disaster risk.
This model of economic and territorial development increases the exposure of global capital stock and economic flows to hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and tropical cyclones. But the resulting disaster risk is often only revealed to investors when a major disaster occurs, as companies like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Texas Instruments and Hewlett-Packard learned to their cost following the 2011 floods in Thailand
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