I live in somewhere affected by an excess of water due to climate change (but from heavy rain, not so much sea-level rise). With things like flood defences, once they are breached, it is too late to patch them. You tend to just let the damage get done, and repair it once the acute problem is over with. And maybe build them back better. You get the chance to do that because sea-level rise isn't monotonic: unexpected storm surges and things happen which expose the weak spots and then the water recedes and you get a chance to rebuild.

It's extremely dangerous to go out during flooding when water is more than ankle or knee deep or so. I suspect that what a waterfighters job would be is more like going out in amphibious vehicles to rescue humans ala https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1...