Real estate investors learned a lot during Superstorm Sandy, which hit the East Coast in October 2012 and caused nearly $70 billion of damage—much of it in real estate.

A lot of real estate investment got smashed as well, and the thought process behind such investing is changing as storms get worse and investors start to adapt to the intensifying weather patterns.

That’s an important consideration for financial advisors who work with clients on real estate investments, which range from residential homes along the coast to private real estate deals incorporated into a portfolio’s alternative investments sleeve.

“So much research has been done since [Hurricanes] Sandy and Katrina” building on decades of previous research, says Tony Charles, global head of research and strategy at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. “The sustainability and resiliency of a building is now incorporated into our due diligence. We look at that before we take on any asset.”

“Climate change is a tough topic for real estate because people like living near the coast, but that makes you climate challenged,” adds Josh Myerberg, managing director and deputy portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing.

“You can divest yourself of Miami, but that is a losing strategy,” Myerberg says. “Insurance is of limited help because insurance is short term and investing in these properties is long term.”

Myerberg says people who invest in real estate should look at a number of items: Is the property they are looking at in a flood plain? Is it designed to tolerate floods? Is there a disruption management plan in place if it does flood?

Jessica Elengical, head of ESG strategy for alternatives at DWS Group, an asset manager based in Germany with operations in the U.S., says people are now paying more attention to the risks of climate change. DWS works with individual and institutional investors and their advisors.

“It’s not as simple as investing or not investing in a particular building,” she says. “It is looking at the city to see if it is building flood walls and adapting in other ways to these long-term challenges.”

DWS works with city stakeholders to see that climate issues are being addressed community-wide and engages with other large property owners.

“We also look at the building itself: at the energy footprint and the water usage compared to other buildings in the area,” she says. “Data like that on property is much easier to get today than it was 10 years ago.”

Eric Malley, founder and CEO of MG Capital Management, a private equity real estate manager that invests in Class A real estate in Manhattan, says it is important to consider the construction of buildings in order to protect investments in the future.

“We have a fiduciary responsibility to take climate change seriously,” Malley says. “We have to take action to preserve and protect” the property and the investment.

MG consults on new projects that are being built. All mechanical equipment has to be on the third floor. Generators have to be in place to make sure elevators keep working in an emergency. And generating systems that can withstand multiple leaks have to be there. For older buildings, there are now systems that can help protect electrical and mechanical equipment that is located in basements.

“We had people displaced for six to 12 months after Sandy because there were no working elevators,” Malley says. “We’re moving in the right direction as the climate changes right before our eyes.”