Preparing for Another Hurricane in Good Ol' Fla.

[Amethyst]

We live in a slab home on a Florida barrier island. The home next to ours is being renovated by absentee owners. It was open for a while so we snooped inside the gutted shell. What a gorgeous place, 3 times the size of ours. Then I noticed the lower level. A basement? In Florida??

I mentioned this to a neighbor, and he said, "Yeah. It was probably full of sand from the last hurricane."

 

[Moemg]

All our utilities are below ground or in the slab. Gas is Propane and buried about 6" below grade, the tank in also in the ground. Electric and water after the meter is all below grade. Except for AC of course, that depends where the air handler is.

Is your house elevated ? Mine is 17 feet up to the first floor .

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Is your house elevated ? Mine is 17 feet up to the first floor .

Nope, just a regular slab home.

 

[Moemg]

Nope, just a regular slab home.

That is why your utilities are not elevated .

 

[NW-Bound]

Is your house elevated ? Mine is 17 feet up to the first floor .

Wow. That's impressive. You would lose only your cars.

Some years ago, on a trip to Key West, we stayed a night at one of the keys on Hwy 1. The motel was built with concrete and masonry, and sitting on concrete stilts. It's been some years, and my memory is fuzzy, but I think it was only 10-12 ft up.

I talked with the owner, and he said it was the only way "they" let him rebuild after losing his former property due to a hurricane, whose name I do not remember.

But 17 ft?

 

[Moemg]

I think I made a mistake and it is 15 feet to the first floor and then a few feet to the next floor . The garage was built with breakaway walls . If there is a big storm surge they allow the water to just flow thru . It is a quirky house .

 

[NW-Bound]

15 ft is still impressive. I wonder what the historical storm surge level is. Is the whole town built like your house?

 

[NW-Bound]

I just found some answers.

Storm surge of 15 ft is not rare. It is from mean sea level, so if a house is not right on the beach, one has a few more feet of margin.

Here's a house that was not high enough to stand the battering wave during a 15-ft storm surge.

 

[Ronstar]

FEMA regulates where buildings can be built in flood areas to include coastal areas. As one would suspect, flood elevations are elevated along coastlines due to wave action. For instance, part of Islamorada has a Base flood elevation in the VE zone (coastal high hazard area) of 14 feet msl, where the zone AE base flood elevation adjacent inland is 9-10 feet. I found this helpful https://www.fema.gov/media-library-...94ffb7afb9ee/Regional_CoastalGlossary_V14.pdf

 

[bolt]

There has been an influx of over 5-7 big name hotels & the like type snowbird accommodations in the Keys after each hurricane.
I suspect they recognize lands appreciating & disappearing down there.

 

[Moemg]

15 ft is still impressive. I wonder what the historical storm surge level is. Is the whole town built like your house?

No , the only areas that homes are elevated are the beach homes and some of the bay homes .On my street there are four elevated homes and five older one story homes .

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Scratch "Hurricane" from Original Title of Post and Replace with "Tropical Storm".... at least at the moment. All go here.