Shortly after moving into their home in St. Petersburg, Florida, Meghan Martin and her husband noticed a drawback to their new neighborhood. The quiet streets of Shore Acres, a leafy community bisected by canals, occasionally flooded.

The Martins settled into their one-story “fixer-upper,” painting the exterior cornflower blue and revamping the 1950s kitchen with new appliances and a herringbone backsplash behind the countertop. But they stopped short of a more radical renovation: the house lift. A handful of water-wary neighbors had pushed their living quarters 8 to 10 feet in the air, adding space for a garage or storage underneath. The couple balked when they learned the cost could exceed the value of their home, which they bought in 2016 for $265,000. Besides, to their knowledge, the house had never severely flooded.

Two floods later — and after two rounds of ripping out drywall and throwing away sodden carpets and toys — the Martins reconsidered. This year, they put down a deposit on the cheapest option for raising their home — $375,000.

Buildings have long been lifted out of nature’s path, especially in the historic quarters of flood-prone cities like New Orleans or Charleston, South Carolina. But as climate change intensifies rainfall and strengthens tropical storms, a newer generation of homes is facing the threat of repeat flood disasters. Whether in Florida, New Jersey or Texas, homeowners are deciding whether to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to build up.

House lifting work starts underground. Hydraulic lifts, set in trenches dug under the foundation, push the house upward. A new foundation is installed, along with elongated staircases and reworked wires and plumbing.

Prices can range from $75 to $200 per square foot, depending on the home’s design. A typical Florida home built on a concrete slab may cost $400,000 to raise, though larger houses can exceed $1 million.

Families like the Martins who have already experienced calamity are often eligible for federal assistance, including low-interest disaster loans. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also raised nearly 22,000 homes nationwide since 1999 through grant programs that cover 75% to 100% of lifting costs. But funds are limited, and approval can take years.

Hannah Rebholz, a floodplain manager with the city of St. Petersburg, said she expects to help about 20 homeowners apply this year for federal assistance, a fraction of those paying their own way.

In time, Shore Acres in Florida may soon resemble places like the bayou-hugging Meyerland community in Houston. Hundreds of the neighborhood’s low-slung 1950s homes were inundated by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the third major flood in three years. The area is now an eclectic mix of quaint older homes thrust into the air and towering contemporary mansions.

It was a storm in 2016 that made the choice clear for Drew and Pam Shefman. They loved their neighborhood, and their house, which they had recently “made perfect,” using a flood insurance payout. But raising would be costly: $420,000.

“The hardest part to get into your head is that you’re going to lose money,” Drew Shefman said. “I had a lot of trouble accepting that.”