This study explores the vertical adaptation narratives in urban dwellings impacted by daily tidal floods. This study is part of the growing discussion of urban livelihood under the increasing rate of climate-induced disasters. This research explores the adaptation narratives of the Tambaklorok dwellers, a coastal urban kampung in Semarang, Central Java. The study observes and maps how an urban community adapts their living spaces against recurrent tidal floods, which inundate their dwelling daily due to land subsidence and rising sea levels. This study highlights such adaptations as vertical narratives, demonstrating how local communities occupy their living spaces in response to the water inflow at various heights. Different spatial strategies take place in multiple vertical positions of living space, to either redirect and block water temporarily; to protect the use of space during the inundation, and to recover and maintain space and objects after the water recedes. This paper reflects on how vertical adaptation of domestic spaces forms urban vertical strategies amidst recurrent disasters, expanding the urban design practice and policies for disaster resilience. © 2025 by authors, all rights reserved.