[txharvey]

Hello, looking to relocate from Dallas to the Gulf Shores area. Wondering about HOI living a couple blocks from the beach or in a condo on the beach. Also REALLY curious as to how many severe storms you get per year, and is the norm to evacuate or to ride it out?
Any other helpful tidbits you could offer would be appreciated!

[southernnaturelover]

Erin and Opal were in '95 I think, Ivan was in '04, then Dennis and Katrina were in '05. Haven't had any since then.

You could have hurricanes three years in a row, then go a whole decade without any. If I lived within ten miles of the coast I would certainly evacuate, I live 50 miles inland and it can get rough even up here.

[ronrutmr2]

HOI can be very significant that close to the beach. A lot of the insurers (my experience is with SF) will not offer wind/water coverage, and you have to go into the high-risk pool and be covered by someone like Lloyds of London, and it is very expensive with high deductibles. I'm 14 miles from the beaches, and my total cost is under $800 per year with a 2% deductible. That's for a 1755 sf house, bought new last year. Same house below county road 20 would be about $2400 per year, higher the further south.

Ron

[Keeper]

If you live right on the beach.. it is possible you will be not able to return home for a while if it is a bad hurricane. Katrina messed up the area pretty bad including the roads on the beach. Not that every place was destroyed but there was damage.

My sister lives in Summerdale and they leave if it is a bad storm more because of no electric.

[ronrutmr2]

So true....I remember the big piles of debris all up and down AL180 in 2004. We live in the county right between Foley and Summerdale, so I guess we'll experience the big power outages sooner or later!

Ron

[retirehappy]

I survived Hurricane Katrina when I lived in Gulfport, Ms. I now live near Bham, Al & with the tornadoes I would really rather live where they are hurricanes. At least with Hurricanes you have several days notice. With tornadoes they can happen in a minute & sometimes the siren doesn't even have time to go off. If I ever lived on the coast again (& I would really like too) I would live in an RV so I can head out & come back when it's over or put money in a special account where you would have it available to withdraw on short notice with no penalties in case you couldn't use your debit/credit cards (power out). I lived in an apartment so fortunately I didn't have to worry about rebuilding. I didn't have ins on the contends cause it would have cost too much plus the ins agent told me it wouldn't cover me in case of natural disasters just fire. Your troubles will only start after you start having to deal with FEMA. They were a nightmare!!

Originally Posted by txharvey

Hello, looking to relocate from Dallas to the Gulf Shores area. Wondering about HOI living a couple blocks from the beach or in a condo on the beach. Also REALLY curious as to how many severe storms you get per year, and is the norm to evacuate or to ride it out?
Any other helpful tidbits you could offer would be appreciated!

[Keeper]

I agree totally.. I was born and raised in Mobile and I will take a hurricane over a tornado anytime. There were 6 ppl killed this April in an F5 tornado near me all in one family. The house next to them was not touched. If you don't leave when a hurricane is coming it is your own fault but you just never know where a tornado will hit.

[Shalako]

Property values on the Beach are high, as is insurance. No way to predict how many Hurricanes will occur or when. If a big one is coming it's best to evacuate. Come evacuation time it's best to be the first to leave instead of the last. Some past evacuations have resulted in traffic jams all the way to Nashville with peoplerunning out of gas and no way to to buy any along the way.

[ronrutmr2]

Originally Posted by ronrutmr2

So true....I remember the big piles of debris all up and down AL180 in 2004. We live in the county right between Foley and Summerdale, so I guess we'll experience the big power outages sooner or later!

Ron

That should be Hwy 182, not 180!
--
Ron

[Reactionary]

Governor Bentley just appointed the 'Affordable Homeowners Insurance Commission' to "to examine and recommend improvements to the state’s insurance market".

State Senator Ben Brooks (R - Mobile) and Representative Steve McMillan (R - Gulf Shores) are on the Commission, which is expected to result in a special legislative session this fall.

Mobile and Baldwin Counties have access (through agents) to the Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association, which provides high risk (and high cost) coverage.