Question about Hurricanes (San Antonio, Brownsville, McAllen: real estate, insurance, new home)

[changeofpace]

When (its not a matter of if) a Hurricane goes ashore at Corpus, how safe is Portland and Flour Bluff as far as flooding is concerned? When a hurricane goes ashore a South Padre Island, how safe from flooding is Harlingen, McAllen and Sharyland?

[Marlow]

It's hard to imagine that Flour Bluff would be anything but flooded because most of it sits right at sea level. There's no sea wall or anything. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, lots of the older houses are built on stilts.

I'm sure there's a more scientific answer for you out there. If I'm not mistaken, the GIS department at TAMUCC is doing an elevation study of the whole area. It's a small department--you might e-mail someone out there and get some answers. Also, a real estate or insurance agent ought to be able to tell you something.

I have no idea about Portland.

[changeofpace]

Thanks Marlow, you are a wealth of information on this site. It seems to me that both Portland and Flour Bluff are vulnerable, Flour Bluff because it is somewhat of an island and Portland because it is located right on the harbor. We had narrowed our neighborhood choices to Portland and Flour Bluff but are wondering if we should consider Odem. We are not paranoid about hurricanes, however, we are buying our retirement home so the thought of being wiped out and starting over is a concern. In my opinion tornados are more of a cocern in Texas (as well as so much of the middle and eastern part of the country) and thats why we are shying away from central Texas. At least a hurricane you can prepare for and have a warning that it is approaching. We will check out the weather and hurricane associated maps. Thanks.

[Marlow]

What about in the Calallen/Annaville area? There's new construction out there and it will be less vulnerable than things built right on the water. But, if you do look out there I'd be very careful about Woodriver. It's a subdivision with very nice houses but it's somewhat hilly (for the area) and very close to the Nueces River. Driving around in there it's hard to believe it wouldn't flood.

FWIW, I wouldn't let fear of tornadoes keep you out of Central Texas if you otherwise like the area. Tornadoes are fairly rare even in that area of the country. Doesn't mean they can't happen, but I don't think they're such a threat that it should keep you out of San Marcos if it's on your list of places to look at. (I think you said that in another post.)

[BobTex]

Want a sobering thought on hurricanes and just how to build your retirement home and how close to the water I'd visit Gulfport, Ms. and / or Cameron, La.. Don't fear 'em, just don't hang around and greet 'em when they do come.

BTW, contractors in this area are building "hurricane proof" residences! Yea, right!

[teatime]

Well, I lived in Brownsville and the evacuation plans had Valley residents going to San Antonio with shelters set up there. That's for a Cat. 3 and above, of course.

The problem with the area is that it's barely above sea level and there are many parts of the towns with substandard sewers and roads. The area floods with just a substantial rainstorm.

[graffixjones]

Originally Posted by BobTex

Want a sobering thought on hurricanes and just how to build your retirement home and how close to the water I'd visit Gulfport, Ms. and / or Cameron, La.. Don't fear 'em, just don't hang around and greet 'em when they do come.

BTW, contractors in this area are building "hurricane proof" residences! Yea, right!

LOL... maybe they should change the term to "hurricane resistant".

Well, here in California they build to a seismic standard to "earthquake proof" buildings and structures, and they survive miraculously well... so I don't think it would be a stretch to think that they could build structures to withstand the forces of a hurricane (for the most part).

[changeofpace]

We found a home in Portland, Flour Bluff and Calallen and chose the home in Calallen. We are not paranoid about hurricanes, flooding or tornadoes (we have tornado warnings almost weekly for 3 to 4 months in MN), but chose a home on a hill about 4 blocks form the Nueces River. Portland and Flour Bluff just looked to flat and to near the water for us. We also checked out Harlingen and McAllen and found a home in both Harlingen and Sharyland but the cities and area as a whole did not look good to us and resale looked like a big problem if we would have to sell for any reason.

[bluedog12]

Originally Posted by changeofpace

When (its not a matter of if) a Hurricane goes ashore at Corpus, how safe is Portland and Flour Bluff as far as flooding is concerned? When a hurricane goes ashore a South Padre Island, how safe from flooding is Harlingen, McAllen and Sharyland?

i don't know much about hurricanes.i also i'm looking for a home near corpus.i saw a storm surge map that didn't affect portland or calallan if you stay away from the river.i read that portland was at an elevation of 40ft.this is the highest coast elevation that i'm aware of.

[changeofpace]

The home we purchased in Calallen is only a mile from the river but it is all uphill to the home plus the home is elevated all around from the street (the home was custom built and obviously they paid close attention to the not having any water flow towards the house, they even put gutters on the house all the way around which is rare down that way. When we were in Harlingen they had had a 5 inch rain the week before and many, many streets and new homes were flooded due to inadequate storm sewers and drainage from homes. Again we are not paranoid just think of as many things as we can. When you are buying your retirement home the last thing you need is your entire home flooded. Now I can replace virtually everything at anytime but when we are retired the income certainly is not the same. We cant wait to settle in. By the way, we looked at 2 new homes in Calallen in a development that was about 2 blocks from the river and the area was completely flat from the river thru the entire development.