Audacious solutions for protecting against the next Hurricane Sandy

Three years ago, Superstorm Sandy ravaged seaside communities along the East Coast.

New York City's metropolitan area was severely impacted due to flooding damage done to its tunnels and subway system. Along the coast, storm surges were 14 feet above the average low tide. Sandy led to 48 deaths in New York alone, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center.

The threat posed by increased flooding from future Sandys is very real due to the effects of climate change. New York could experience 6 more feet in sea level rise by 2100, which could potentially submerge more than 90 square miles of the city under water, according to a 2015 report published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Major storms that once might have occurred every 500 years could soon happen every 25 years or so on the Atlantic coast.

In the face of rising sea levels and increased frequency of major storms, architects, scientists, and politicians are turning to creative protection solutions. Big waves call for big ideas.