But recent disasters have shown limitations of coastal protection:

• Hurricane Katrina exemplified the urban disaster.
• The 2004 Sumatra tsunami exemplified large-scale hazards: Over wide areas, settlements were completely wiped out and ... people were killed, the furthest away more than ... km from the epicenter at South African Coasts.
• Venice exercises adaptation to a slowly developing disaster: people walk over temporary walkways that are set up when Aqua Alto is forecasted, so that tourist can continue to walk across low-lying areas and visit museums and other attractions.