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gmarc

Beach Fanatic
Jan 19, 2009
506
65
rental units get charged more due to much greater liability. you have 20 renters in per year. what are the chances that one slips and falls,that somebody leaves the water on and it floods the downstairs,that somebody leaves the stove or grill on? you get the point its a much greater liability than the homeowner. as far as pilings in an x zone. we're 28 feet above sea level and in an x zone and have 4 foot pilings. i believe almost every home in watercolor is built on concrete pilings. as i said $300 is cheap to pay for peace of mind.
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,862
9,670
rental units get charged more due to much greater liability. you have 20 renters in per year. what are the chances that one slips and falls,that somebody leaves the water on and it floods the downstairs,that somebody leaves the stove or grill on? you get the point its a much greater liability than the homeowner. as far as pilings in an x zone. we're 28 feet above sea level and in an x zone and have 4 foot pilings. i believe almost every home in watercolor is built on concrete pilings. as i said $300 is cheap to pay for peace of mind.

She was referring to flood insurance. It's only higher for rentals because they can and do charge more.
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,862
9,670
Another thing to remember about flood insurance, as Beach Runner pointed out, is the issue of a hurricane. Flood insurance hasn't been updated since they took the storm surge off the saffir simpson scale so a category one could have a much worse storm surge than a category three hurricane.
 

melscuba

Beach Fanatic
Apr 22, 2009
260
38
Roswell, Ga hoping SoWal someday
Thoughts to ponder:

(1) Under no "foreseeable" circumstances does Geo site show the property we are considering to be flooded

(2) Home is on pilings

(3) Was the home built on pilings because it affords a better view?

.

Hee hee... you got it through my head... hey, I got SHELLY to respond.:D. I appreciate everyone's input and will take the advice! Flood insurance it will be... now we just have to get the house.
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,763
803
Hee hee... you got it through my head... hey, I got SHELLY to respond.:D. I appreciate everyone's input and will take the advice! Flood insurance it will be... now we just have to get the house.

...somehow I smelled the GCT & SS in your future.
 

NotDeadYet

Beach Fanatic
Jul 7, 2007
1,416
489
It is not just storm surge you have to consider. A 15 inch deluge over an area with a lot of creeks or wetlands may be absorbed quickly under the right conditions, but not if the ground is already saturated and the surrounding area has developed and the stormwater system is a bit less than adequate and some culvert somewhere downstream gets plugged up, etc. You get the picture.
Quite a while ago I recall attending some presentation or other and I forgot most of what was said except the astonishing statement that 25% of claims on flood insurance policies are for properties in zones that do not require flood insurance.
 

beachmouse

Beach Fanatic
Dec 5, 2004
3,499
741
Bluewater Bay, FL
Definitely. The worst rain event I've seen down here wasn't during a hurricane but from an 'ordinary' spring storm where a front stalled out over Pensacola and dumped 20+ inches of rain on our house in 36 hours. Second worst rain event was when we got the wet side of Hurricane Georges, where local flooding was bad enough that I-10 was impassable in multiple parts of the panhandle (and they oddly had to reroute through traffic to US 98 until the water went down. Uusually it's US 98 that's impassable during the storm) And then heavy rain events #3-#5 were other non-cyclone, simple stalled front deals.

We really need 50 different words for rain down here like the eskimos allegedly have 50 different words for kinds of snow.

Fortunately, most of the built up areas around here were engineered to handle the kind of rain deluges that are common to the northern Gulf Coast.
 

30ashopper

SoWal Insider
Apr 30, 2008
6,845
3,471
59
Right here!
On this topic... would you guys recommend buying flood insurance if you're in zone "X"? We've never purchased by the coast before and I'm not sure if it's necessary. I've gone on the Geo site and under no "foreseeable" circumstances does it show the property which we are considering to be flooded. The home is on pilings. What do you guys recommend?.. or what have those who own homes in the area decided to do?

I am and I do. The coverage is cheap and I know I'm completely covered.

I'd suggest you check to see where you are in terms of zones.

Geocortex Internet Mapping Framework (IMF)
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,763
803
Definitely. The worst rain event I've seen down here wasn't during a hurricane but from an 'ordinary' spring storm where a front stalled out over Pensacola and dumped 20+ inches of rain on our house in 36 hours. Second worst rain event was when we got the wet side of Hurricane Georges, where local flooding was bad enough that I-10 was impassable in multiple parts of the panhandle (and they oddly had to reroute through traffic to US 98 until the water went down. Uusually it's US 98 that's impassable during the storm) And then heavy rain events #3-#5 were other non-cyclone, simple stalled front deals.

We really need 50 different words for rain down here like the eskimos allegedly have 50 different words for kinds of snow.

Fortunately, most of the built up areas around here were engineered to handle the kind of rain deluges that are common to the northern Gulf Coast.

...how about the time the business end (Eastern end) of Hurricane Ivan hit just west of the Pensacola pass and pushed the Gulf of Mexico into Pensacola/Escambia Bay resulting in massive flooding of rivers, streams and estuaries that dumped into the bay. Moreover, rain being dumped by the hurricane and trying to flow back down toward the Bays & Gulf backed up resulting in massive flooding of inland areas.

I knew an person who lived in a house on pilings in Floridatown (25 miles north of the Gulf on Escambia Bay). The water rose up under his home, took out the bottom floor of his home, and all his belongings on the bottom floor were dumped into the water and washed away.

He had flood insurance, and although it was a long and constant battle between the agencies as to who was responsible for paying which damages, he had both sides covered and eventually was made whole.

Now, envision a Cat 3-4 hurricane hitting just west of Destin pass pushing the Gulf of Mexico into Choctaw Bay....makes no difference if you are on a "bluff" or on pilings when water is trying to make its way South to the Gulf.





.
 
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beachmouse

Beach Fanatic
Dec 5, 2004
3,499
741
Bluewater Bay, FL
Ivan was more of a surge event than a rain event. 8-10 inches was typical in the area from the storm and we'll get that kind of 24 hour rainfall 2-3 times a year.

What caused the huge flooding was largely the wind/surge. At the storm's peak in the Gulf, a buoy recorded a 52 foot wave, which is a record wave height for that body of water. And in inland waterways, it was wind driving rain back into the 'funnel' rather than the rain itself that caused incidents like the I-10 bridge collapse.
 
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