Hurricane Season 2014 chalks up another storm-free year for the history books. Nine in a row. How lucky can we get! The unspoken question: How lucky can we stay?
With that in mind, there is a new map you should look at to learn about the risk Floridians face from storm surge. Flooding is the nation’s #1 natural disaster, and it’s not just a coastal problem. The water has to go somewhere, and it often chooses inland areas.
The National Hurricane Center has just released a storm surge inundation map. At a glance, you can tell if your location is at risk. So….glance. Take a moment to hit the tabs at the top of the page to see how different hurricane categories can impact flooding. Toggling between worst case storm surge scenarios for a Category 2 hurricane and a Category 5 will get you seeing a deep shade of red. Hopefully, seeing red will propel you to action — to find out more about your evacuation zone and to mitigate against flooding.
The data used to create the map has an interesting moniker: SLOSH. It stands for Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes. It’s all about the physics of flooding, and you don’t have to understand the science. But you should know your flood risk. Do it now, please. Because we should never let our preparedness skills rust during the off season. Thanks to insuringflorida.org.
