As climate change progresses, so does the risk from hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters. As sea level rises, tropical cyclones will pose a greater risk of extreme flooding and are likely to inflict the greatest damages on highly populated shorelines. A catastrophic hurricane season in the Caribbean during 2017 is exemplifies how these events can strained government budgets and impact coastal communities. Globally, it is projected that coastal growth in population and development will outpace progress in risk reduction. The need to upgrade existing flood protection and to plan for future coastal risks is becoming increasingly apparent. However, effective adaptation requires understanding the different drivers of risk from an economic perspective, including coastal development and the impacts of climate change. There is a need for better strategic visions for risk reduction and climate adaptation that involves specific science and quantification to address stakeholder concerns and supports climate change policy. Analyses should be able to: (i) identify areas most at risk, (ii) quantify losses and damages under various present and future scenarios, and (iii) compare and prioritize potential solutions with cost-benefit analysis. This protocol describes a quantitative risk assessment framework to assess coastal flood risk (factoring both climate change and economic exposure growth) and to compare the cost effectiveness of different adaptation measures. These adaptation options may include nature-based (e.g. oyster reef restoration), structural or grey infrastructure (e.g., seawalls) and policy measures (e.g. home elevation or coastal development policies).