As average summer temperatures rise in the tropics, so do the risks of mass death from killer heatwaves, climate scientists find.

After decades of development that destroyed countless acres of coastal marsh, Southern California’s environmental “bank account” is empty, said Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. … For Sanders, San Clemente is an ideal place for a project that rebuilds beaches and ultimately protects the railroad track and houses.

It doesn’t take much rain for road intersections to wind up underwater, says Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He has worked to develop another effort to educate residents: a hyperlocal forecasting system to inform them of the risk that their neighborhoods — or even streets — face from a coming storm. … “This event is a bit of a wake-up call,” he said.