Back Bay of Biloxi (Jackson, Gulfport: insurance, condo, buying a house)

[alligatorboy]

Do the areas around the Back Bay of Biloxi have flooding? Also, what is North Biloxi like?

[alligatorboy]

Actually, I meant North Gulfport, not North Biloxi.

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by alligatorboy

Do the areas around the Back Bay of Biloxi have flooding? Also, what is North Biloxi like?

Yes they do. If you need proof buy the video from the local TV station.. its something everyone should see.

WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - Building South Mississippi Together |HOME

the video direct location

WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - Building South Mississippi Together |Now Available on DVD: "Katrina: One Year Later"

Biloxi is very nice.. I like the area around Popps Ferry road.

[alligatorboy]

Thank you for the information, Muhnay. I had a feeling that the Back Bay of Biloxi would have flooding during a hurricane, but I wanted to hear it from someone who knows. Thank you also for telling me about the area that you like. I don't know any neighborhoods in Biloxi, so this is very helpful.

[SierraH]

Originally Posted by alligatorboy

Thank you for the information, Muhnay. I had a feeling that the Back Bay of Biloxi would have flooding during a hurricane, but I wanted to hear it from someone who knows. Thank you also for telling me about the area that you like. I don't know any neighborhoods in Biloxi, so this is very helpful.

A hurricane's tidal surge comes ashore and floods all areas up to the highest level of the surge. It is wind blown water. Therefore, creeks, bays, rivers, and low lying areas are all flooded. My condo was on a bayou and my living room floor was 18 feet above sea level. It was in Ocean Springs, 50 miles east of where the eye came ashore. I had 5 feet of water in my condo, because there was a 23 foot storm surge. There was serious flooding over 20 miles from the Coast, especially up the major rivers, like the Pearl, the Pascagoula, etc. While we had a 23 foot surge, Waveland, Bay St. Louis and the associated bayou's had as high as 38 feet.

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by SierraH

A hurricane's tidal surge comes ashore and floods all areas up to the highest level of the surge. It is wind blown water. Therefore, creeks, bays, rivers, and low lying areas are all flooded. My condo was on a bayou and my living room floor was 18 feet above sea level. It was in Ocean Springs, 50 miles east of where the eye came ashore. I had 5 feet of water in my condo, because there was a 23 foot storm surge. There was serious flooding over 20 miles from the Coast, especially up the major rivers, like the Pearl, the Pascagoula, etc. While we had a 23 foot surge, Waveland, Bay St. Louis and the associated bayou's had as high as 38 feet.

While working at State Farm in Biloxi, I got to watch a video of one of the office people that stayed and they started out on the second floor, ran to the third, then broke though to the roof. They had a 3 story house near the beach.. it was this guy, his wife and two small daughters. They are on the roof, and he has tied them all off to the AC unit as the water is reaching the 3rd story of his house.. he says.. If it gets this high we may have to swim for that tree.. a huge oak tree near the house.. the water is at their feet and they are at the top of this three story house. The entire time they are panic, and crying and its raining and wind is ripping around them.. the water never got any higher and started to recede and they did not have to swim for it.. He told me as we watched this vid, that he thought for sure they were all dead.. I also saw many pictures while there of what people lost and had to endure. Heard many sad stories. But at the same time, they all had a strength, a calm in them. It made me proud they shared this event with me.. it made me proud to know them.

Now I know State Farm is the debil ( devil ) down there.. and I am sure many people had reason. Just like the fact they are stopping coverage there in many parts.. and backing down on other coverage further inland.

But the people who live on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.. are some of my most favorite people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.. I wish them all the best this world has to offer.

[alligatorboy]

Originally Posted by SierraH

A hurricane's tidal surge comes ashore and floods all areas up to the highest level of the surge. It is wind blown water. Therefore, creeks, bays, rivers, and low lying areas are all flooded. My condo was on a bayou and my living room floor was 18 feet above sea level. It was in Ocean Springs, 50 miles east of where the eye came ashore. I had 5 feet of water in my condo, because there was a 23 foot storm surge. There was serious flooding over 20 miles from the Coast, especially up the major rivers, like the Pearl, the Pascagoula, etc. While we had a 23 foot surge, Waveland, Bay St. Louis and the associated bayou's had as high as 38 feet.

I had considered Waveland and Bay St. Louis as places I might want to live. Thanks to your response, I now know that those cities probably aren't the best choices. Someone on another thread mentioned that houses in Long Beach didn't have any damage from Katrina.

[DB3]

Alligatorboy, even though you probably already know this, I had to send a word of caution. There was no town in the lower six counties that had "no damage" from Katrina. If someone is making a blanket statement like that, they're not telling you the truth.

I don't mean to sound dramatic but please, if you're considering buying a house, do your research. Make sure you get the seller's disclosures. NOAA created a fantastic interactive map of a recreation of Katrina's storm surge that you would probably find helpful. Know what the elevation is of any home you're considering buying. It's probable that a home that was washed away by Katrina is now at a much higher level so it should potentially be more secure from future storm surge.
Good luck!

Here's an article in the local paper about Long Beach/Katrina:
SunHerald.com : Long Beach recovery ready for next phase (broken link)
"When the storm slammed into this beachfront town [of 18,000], it destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and took away most of the tax base."

I think this is the NOAA storm surge map:
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/katrina/pdf/...inundation.pdf

[alligatorboy]

Originally Posted by DB3

Alligatorboy, even though you probably already know this, I had to send a word of caution. There was no town in the lower six counties that had "no damage" from Katrina. If someone is making a blanket statement like that, they're not telling you the truth.

I don't mean to sound dramatic but please, if you're considering buying a house, do your research. Make sure you get the seller's disclosures. NOAA created a fantastic interactive map of a recreation of Katrina's storm surge that you would probably find helpful. Know what the elevation is of any home you're considering buying. It's probable that a home that was washed away by Katrina is now at a much higher level so it should potentially be more secure from future storm surge.
Good luck!

Here's an article in the local paper about Long Beach/Katrina:
SunHerald.com : Long Beach recovery ready for next phase (broken link)
"When the storm slammed into this beachfront town [of 18,000], it destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and took away most of the tax base."

I think this is the NOAA storm surge map:
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/katrina/pdf/...inundation.pdf

Thank you. I didn't see how it could be possible for a city right on the coast to not have any damage. Someone else told me that even the cities that are 20 miles from the coast had severe damage from Katrina.

[DB3]

Yes, the water damage really depended on your elevation and where you were located in relation to any rivers, streams, bayous, etc. (as mentioned by a previous poster). There was extensive wind damage all the way up to Jackson (3 hours inland). D'Iberville and Moss Point, towns which sort of lay inland from the coast were hit hard by the water traveling from the Gulf into the Back Bay and rivers. Pascagoula (which is the town that borders Alabama) took a much harder hit with the water than Ocean Springs because Horn Island helped to buffer the storm surge coming at Ocean Springs. BUT, had Katrina come inland a few miles to the East, all of Ocean Springs would have been wiped out like Bay St. Louis was in Katrina. So the path of any future hurricane also matters, which is why I think you really need to focus on elevation and construction of any home you're considering buying in the lower 6 counties and whatever you do, don't forget to buy flood insurance, whether or not they say you need it!