I live in a hurricane evacuation zone. My zone is Zone B: 14 feet “Potential Surge Inundation”
Does that mean the storm surge will be 14 ft higher than sea level?
I don’t understand.
In: 1
The winds blowing around a hurricane along with the very low atmospheric pressure push the water around them. Not just by forming waves but pushing the water level up. This is the storm surge, the water level is raised 14 feet. And you will still have waves as well as tides that go along with this as well, and as you can imagine the waves associated with hurricane force winds can be very high.
Yes, give or take. So if you live on a hill 30 feet above sea level, then you should be alright.
As mentioned, it is the wind pushing the sea toward the land, but a big part of it is the low atmospheric pressure. Low pressure literally means the column of air from the surface up weighs less, so it is not pushing down on the sea with the same force, which literally allows the sea to be higher than normal.
A big variable is whether the storm hits at high or low tide. If it hits at low tide, it is bad, but not as bad. If it hits at high tide, it can be epically bad if you are in a location with a normally big tidal range.
If you are in the track of a large hurricane, it is always best to get out of the flood risk zone as early as possible.
Zone B is often used for areas behind a levee that protects up to the 1-in-100 yr flood (1%in a given year), but maybe not the 1-in-500 yr flood (0.2% in a given year). There’s other less common hazards it may cover.
Never seen it with a depth recorded with it, but that may be part of the newer requirements to price flood insurance closer to right.
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