11 November 2024
The purpose of this note is to detail the procedures per FEMA requirements for the repair of flood damaged residences and buildings in the City of Gulfport.
26 September 2024, Hurricane Helene 9 October 2024, Hurricane Milton
The damage caused by Hurricane Helene was primarily caused by flooding with some wind damage, and the damage caused by Milton was primarily caused by wind and rain also with some flooding.
If you have a property that is not located in a flood zone or is compliant with flood zone construction requirements (elevated) permits to repair damages or simply improve properties is the same as always.
If your property is located in a flood zone but there was no damage to your residence or building by flooding, the procedure is the same as it always has been for improvements or repairs to your residence per the 50% rule for pre-FIRM (non-elevated) residences and buildings. We may ask you to schedule a preliminary inspection depending on your location to verify that there was no flood damage.
Now the big change to permitting requirements. Properties located in flood zones that have residences or buildings that are pre-FIRM (non-elevated) and damaged by flooding, must follow a specific procedure. Due to the flooding, when we do our initial damage assessment, we are also required to record the approximate depth of flooding above the ground and above the first floor of buildings, this is something we did in the days immediately after Helene.
There are 4 categories of flood damage:
- Affected -no flooding in living space,
- Minor -flooding present but less than 18 inches in living space,
- Major -flooding greater than 18 inches in living space,
- Destroyed -flooding is at roofline or higher.
Residences and buildings in the minor, major and destroyed categories are required to have substantial damage estimates performed before permits to repair the structures to their predamaged condition can be issued.
Because the City of Gulfport had over 600 properties that were damaged by various degrees of flooding, we requested assistance from Pinellas County, the state Department of Emergency Management and FEMA, help has been provided and the Substantial Damage Estimate process is currently under way with state provided contractor Tidal Basin Group.
The process steps post initial damage assessments performed by city staff include: initial substantial damage inspections, a review of the inspections, a quality control review or re-inspection, uploading of inspection results into FEMA’s Substantial Damage Estimator tool and the receipt of the results by the building department.
Once the building department has received the results, we will be sending letters (Substantially Damaged and Not Substantially Damaged) to property owners, copies of those letters are also included with this note.
While permit applications can be submitted currently, the information included with the applications may change based on the Substantial Damage determination.
A permit is required to repair flood damage in residences and buildings in flood zones, even post-FIRM buildings (elevated) are required to have a permit to repair flood damage, the space below in the enclosure can only be used for parking of vehicles, limited storage and access by stairs and or elevator to the living space above. The lower area cannot include living space and all finishes must comply with FEMA’s Technical Bulletin 2. The failure to obtain a permit is a violation. Work done before a permit is issued will not be approved and must be removed.
The City of Gulfport participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. Failing to enforce floodplain damage requirements can jeopardize the entire community’s flood insurance discount and participation in the program, losing eligibility for flood insurance, disaster assistance and federally-backed loans and grants for our citizens.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.
Respectfully,
Clark Streicher, Building Official City of Gulfport, Florida