Advice on Living South of 98 in Navarre (Niceville: rental, insurance)

[INFP-girl]

Hi all,

My husband got a job offer at Hurlburt Field and it looks like we will be moving there in a couple of months. We're excited! I have been looking for rental houses, and found one that I really like, but it is South of 98...only a couple of blocks from the water. That would be great most of the time, but I am concerned how dangerous that would be during storms/hurricanes.

Do you generally recommend staying North of 98 in Navarre, or are there some houses/areas South of 98 that are safe from flooding? Does anyone know how I can find out if a specific address is in a flood zone? Or should I just avoid anything South of 98?

Thanks in advance,

Andrea
in Connecticut

[beachmouse]

The state has evacuation and latest storm surge maps here:

Florida DEM Disaster Preparedness Maps

Note that renter's insurance is going to be expensive to impossible in high surge risk areas. We lived on Okaloosa Island (narrow barrier island) for a few years when we moved down here, and I'm both glad for the beach life experience and glad we moved inland before Hurricane Ivan hit.

[INFP-girl]

Thanks, Beachmouse. That's exactly what I was looking for. It looks like the house I like is just inside a storm surge high risk area, so I guess we'll keep looking.

Thanks,

Andrea

[jghorton]

Another thought; --- Navarre Beach is a beautiful area and a great place to live, but, most of the houses near the water are not built on 'stilts' to keep them out of the sand. The good news is that there hasn't been a major storm through there since IVAN (and part of Katrina); the 'bad news' is that when large storms do pass through the area, ... they have historically done a lot of damage!

If you were buying, you might be able to find "reasonable" homeowners/flood insurance on Navarre Beach. However, you will discover that most of the Florida Insurance companies typically have a built-in 2-5% (of the entire home value) deductible (per event) when it comes to storms. As a renter, you might get a reasonable renter's policy to cover personal property loss, but, you will probably also face a high deductible.

[INFP-girl]

Thanks, jghorton, for the input!

We're still wrestling with Niceville vs. Navarre. How bad is the commute is on 98 early in the morning? My husband will start work at 7:30. Is 98 already terrible at 7:00am, or would he be okay at that time? Would the commute to Niceville be generally less stressful and easier, even though it's a bit further, or would Navarre be better if someone starts earlier?

Thanks for any input you all have.

Andrea