Joanna Clement Borek, a San Francisco designer, took a different approach to floating homes.

FORBES: 10 Floating Homes Of The Future

Seattle has an abundance of floating homes, as do other locations along the West Coast, such as select areas of California and Oregon.

FORBES: 9 Outrageous Floating Homes For Sale

In a different answer to rising sea levels, Dutch studio Whim Architects produced plans for floating, self-sustaining homes made from plastic waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-sustaining homes, wooden wind turbines and the world's first solar-powered nation

Billionaires have been trading multimillion-dollar real estate with tremendous zeal in recent years, slapping down record sums for trophy homes while quietly floating other properties in their portfolios through brokers in unofficial, off-market offerings.

FORBES: The Most Expensive Billionaire Homes In The World

Body recovery teams pressed on with the grim task of searching for victims, many of whom are floating in canals, abandoned on roadsides and still hidden in flooded homes.

CNN: Pumps sucking water from flooded city

Police Chief Scott Keithley said some homes were half under water, and abandoned cars were sent floating in the torrent of water.

NPR: Floodwaters Rising After Storms Deluge Heartland