Miami’s $5 Billion Flood Protection

By Douglas McIntyre  •  October 28, 2025
Antonio Cuellar Pexels

There is an extensive range of forecasts about when much of Miami will be flooded. This is because part of it is below sea level. Sea levels are rising due to polar melting. Hurricanes create massive storm surges. 

A recent forecast predicted that almost two-thirds of Miami would be permanently underwater by 2060. Any forecast with an endpoint so far in the future has little value.

However, there is one useful yardstick. This is how much money the city will spend to keep the water out. According to Miami News Today, “Miami’s new stormwater master plan prioritizes $600 million in near-term infrastructure improvements and anticipates over $5 billion will be needed to shore up the city against flooding and achieve long-term resiliency goals.” Since Miami has become a city with a concentration of billionaires, some of that money might be raised privately.

Five Year Plan

The first part of the project is to create a set of forecasting tools. As new properties are added or new data becomes available, the model’s results change. There are five-year and ten-year infrastructure plans to keep the city mostly safe. Their system collects water and moves it away from the city.

The work is complex. A total of 24 neighborhoods and business districts need to be protected. The problems go well beyond the five- to ten-year time horizon. There is no way to forecast how fast the world’s oceans will rise. 

In short, the Miami $5 billion program is based on a set of guesses.

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