When my family moved to the Netherlands, I was 8 years old. My father, a rocket scientist, decided one of the first things we would do is go inside the Oosterscheldekering - a 2.5 mile long liftable storm surge barrier. He loved fluid dynamics and structures. It made sense to him. In the coming years, I became inspired by the scale of what the Dutch had accomplished. My home in Florida would be below water in my lifetime. I thought that it could be protected the same way.