They may get a rude awakening when a major storm, flood, earthquake or fire hits their communities.
The real challenge is figuring out whether a particular storm or flood was due to climate change or natural variables, said Chris Field, founding director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology.
CNN: Extreme weather: Get ready to see more of it, scientists say
Homeowners and businessowners who suffered flooding in Sandy's record storm surge in flood zones spent much of the day either grieving or rolling up their sleeves.
At first the Army Corps of Engineers said they thought the storm surge had overtopped the concrete flood walls, washing them out from behind.
Less than a month after the storm struck, amidst debris and flood-damaged buildings, President Francis promised that this university would reopen in a matter of months. (Applause.) Some said he was crazy.
Well as far as the U.S. is concerned, a March 2006 NOAA study published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association reports that conditions during the twentieth century have become wetter (more precipitation), but less extreme in terms of severe flood-producing hydrological (rain storm) occurrences.
There will undoubtedly be wrangling between insurance adjusters, homeowners and the feds over what water damage was due to the storm, and what is attributable to the rising flood.
The storm churned eastward, prompting severe thunderstorm and flash-flood warnings in eastern Tennessee and western portions of the Carolinas.
CNN: High winds, tornado trap Georgia residents, turn over cars
Storm victims have filed about 140, 000 Sandy-related flood insurance claims, but many have not been fully paid out, US emergency officials have said.
Jindal noted that the levees and flood walls in southeast Louisiana held up to the storm's wind and rains, to the relief of citizens and officials alike, but that water did overtop New Orleans' Industrial Canal.
Since 1984 London has been safely protected by the Thames Flood Barrier, built to prevent a repeat of storm surge that caused widespread destruction and killed 307 people along the east coast of England in 1953.
He rode out the storm on the roof of a transport truck after the wind and flood jerked him out of his shoes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency told Congress on Tuesday the flood insurance program was nearly out of money to compensate storm victims and required new authority to borrow more money to meet its obligations.
During the storm, Berggren and her patients were trapped inside the 24-story building as flood waters rose.
"The May 2010 storm event should have been an endurable, natural event at or below the 100-year flood plain, " the lawsuit said.
State broadcasters on Monday said over 5, 000 people have been relocated from the flood-prone areas around Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, to safer districts less vulnerable to storm surges or landslides.
Advocates for immigrants and other poor storm victims say many people have also been subjected to the whims of corrupt landlords who aren't repairing flood damage and are still demanding the rent.
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