Flee Malibu As Soon As Possible
The more that wildfires spread and California is also hit by massive rainstorms, the more obvious it is that Malibu, home to some of America’s wealthiest residents, is harder hit by climate change than most of the balance of California is.
A recent assessment of Malibu by Risk Factor showed “Overall, Malibu has an extreme risk of flooding over the next 30 years, which means flooding is likely to impact day-to-day life within the community.” The same organization measured fire risk. “There are 5,888 properties properties in Malibu that have some risk of being affected by wildfire over the next 30 years. This represents 99% of all properties in Malibu.” The only metric Malibu scores well on is fresh air.
What’s the city with the most climate deniers?
Another set of climate disasters
Huge waves hit the city’s shores during the recent drenching storms. Waves reached 20 feet along an area that is barely above sea level.
Wildfires
The LA Times recently published a map of a century of Malibu fires. Over the last 90 years, the city has been partially burned over 30 times. The Woolsey wildfire burned 97,000 acres. People had to flee the city in their yachts. As recently as November 9, according to Fox Weather, “Firefighters and helicopters swarmed the scene as Southern California Edison cut power to parts of eastern Malibu and Los Flores Canyon to prevent strong winds from triggering any new fires.”
As if fire, flood, and rainstorms were not enough, Malibu’s Pacific coast, the location of some of the most expensive homes in America. Is eroding. Pepperdine Univerity recently wrote about the disaster., Mayor Paul Grisanti commented, “Rising sea levels wear away the coast, and factors such as the lack of dams, lack of flood basins and runoff from storms cause beach erosion.”
Malibu is among the American cities with huge climate troubles, which will worsen and eventually represent an existential crisis for some residents. The city has just over 10,000 residents. Unlike most places badly damaged by the climate, Malibu residents can leave. The median home value in the city is over $2 million. Median household income is $200,000. Since many of these expensive homes will eventually be destroyed, now is a good time to leave.
