Applying Machine Learning to Assess Florida’s Climate-Driven Real Estate Risk (part1)

Image created by author, inspired by source:’https://sealevelrise.org/states/florida/’: The sea level around the Florida Keys has risen by 8 inches since 1950. Its speed of rise has accelerated over the last ten years and it’s now rising by 1 inch every 3 years. Scientists know this because sea levels are measured every 6 minutes using equipment like satellites, floating buoys off the coast, and tidal gauges to accurately measure the local sea level as it accelerates and changes

Florida’s short-lived climate change czar, Chief Resilience Officer Julia Nesheiwat, set a clear priority for the state: Protect the real estate market.

Image by source: JNW21 885, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Nesheiwat’s [unpublished] January 2020 report is loaded with proposals aimed to keep Florida’s most important industry, real estate, high and dry.

Her plan proposes stricter building codes, but also more controversial measures, such as disclosing flood risks to home buyers, providing state-sponsored home buyouts, and requiring vulnerability studies for cities and counties.

“Florida’s coastal communities and regions do not have time to waste and need a partner at the highest level to help manage and prepare against impending threats,” wrote Nesheiwat, who took a job with the Department of Homeland Security after six months in Florida.

A case study by McKinsey echoed Nesheiwat’s dire projections for much of the state, including the Florida Keys, but also many coastal areas far North of Atlantis [formerly South-Florida].