The researchers concluded that the surge from a Category 4 storm would put John F. Kennedy International Airport under 20 ft. of water. Seawater would pour through the Holland and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels and into the city's subways throughout lower Manhattan. The flooding would be especially disastrous if people seeking to escape torrential rains and falling debris were to take shelter in subway stations. For now, at least, disaster scenarios like this remain only hypothetical. Perhaps that's one reason most people don't pay much attention.
Homes still rise on the barrier islands off North Carolina.
On Galveston's westernmost beaches, where the land is barely above sea level, luxurious new mansions stand atop stilts so tall the scene is almost comical. Just a few minutes up the road, however, there's a poignant monument to this sort of denial. Hard by bright blue signs marking Galveston's primary evacuation route, a small plaque commemorates the site where the hurricane of 1900 destroyed an orphanage and took the lives of 87 children. Just across the street stands a brand new Wal-Mart. Click for more options or for help .