PalmCoast.Life

Three things this week

Do these on a boring afternoon. A cone over the Bahamas is a terrible time to create an account.

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Free county alerts by text, email, and phone, tied to your address. Turn on flash flood, severe thunderstorm, tornado, and extreme wind at a minimum. Quiet hours still break for evacuations and tornadoes.

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Look up your address

The planning map is for homework, not the order itself. Flagler names neighborhoods when it actually evacuates. If you live in a mobile home or RV, plan to leave even if the map looks quiet.

Open the planning map

Bind flood insurance now

Homeowners policies do not cover flood. NFIP and most private flood policies have a waiting period — often 30 days. A named storm is too late. Canal lots and the barrier island are not the only streets that flood.

Insurance 101 →

We don’t evacuate by letter

Palm Coast streets already run on letters — B, C, F, P. The county dropped alphabetical evacuation zones because they collided with that map. When they tell you to leave, they name neighborhoods, not a letter on a TV key.

The planning map is for the off-season. It is not the order. A second map goes up when they actually evacuate. If you live near a boundary, call (386) 313-4200 rather than squinting at a simplified polygon.

Two planning areas matter in this county: a hurricane evacuation area that includes the entire barrier island and some land west of I-95, and a lake flood area in parts of the southwest. Mobile homes and RVs should plan to go even when the map is quiet.

You are not being asked to drive to Tennessee. National Hurricane Center guidance for most Flagler evacuations is a short hop — five to ten minutes outside the named area — into a code-built house, or into a shelter the county has opened for that storm.

Look up an address on the planning map

Your street changes the homework

Two houses a half-mile apart can have different flood, surge, and insurance stories. Tour that before you need it.

Flagler Beach

The whole town sits on a barrier island between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal. Treat it as a leave-when-told place, not a ride-it-out postcard. A1A floods. The bridge is the way off.

The Hammock

East of the Intracoastal, west of the dunes. Beautiful, low, and surge-aware. If the county names coastal neighborhoods, this is in the conversation.

Canal streets (C & F)

Palm Harbor’s saltwater canals are the lifestyle. They are also where water goes when the ICW rises. Seawalls are not a surge plan. Know whether your canal actually connects, and keep the lift up.

Inland lettered sections

Most of the original ITT grid is a shelter-in-place story for typical storms — if the house meets code and you are not in a named flood or surge pocket. Wind, trees, and power outages are still the week.

Buying? Get the wind and flood quotes before you waive contingencies. Insurance 101 →

Flood maps, shelters, boats, empty houses

Evacuation zone is not a flood zone

FEMA flood maps (X, AE, VE) are insurance documents. Flagler’s evacuation order is life-safety — surge and getting off the island. You can be in Zone X and still be told to leave, or in AE and be a stay-put for a given storm. Look up both. Do not let a listing’s “not in a flood zone” stand in for the county’s actual order.

Shelters and pets

Not every shelter opens for every storm. Wait for Emergency Management’s list. Bring the kit. Pet-friendly space is limited and documented — crate, food, vet records, and a confirmation that that site takes animals. The special-needs registry is a before-season form, not a warning-day surprise.

What to do with the boat

A named storm is a bad time to invent a marina plan. Haul out and trailer inland, or follow the yard’s written hurricane plan. Lifts up, or the boat off the lift — your dock and your policy will say which. Do not assume a canal is a harbor. Photograph the vessel before the wind arrives.

Empty and seasonal houses

If you leave in summer, someone local needs a key and a shutter checklist. Insurance occupancy and vacancy clauses are real. Leave the A/C on enough to dry the house. Fridge empty or well-managed. A cone over the Bahamas is a terrible time to fly back from Ohio to close accordion shutters.

Policies, deductibles, Citizens, 4-point and wind-mitigation inspections: Insurance 101 → · Before you buy →

Before, during, after

Now, on a quiet Tuesday

ALERTFlagler on. Planning map checked. Flood policy bound.
Photograph every room and the roof. That is your claims file.
Decide: stay, go to a friend inland, or a hotel west of I-95. Write it down. Tell one person who does not live here.
If anyone in the house would need help evacuating, ask Emergency Management about the special-needs registry before season gets loud.

A storm is in the five-day cone

Fill the tank and the water jugs. Get cash. Refill prescriptions.
Clear the yard: chairs, trampolines, pots, the grill. Canal boats off the lift or well tied, as your dock actually allows.
Charge everything. Freeze bottles to use as ice.
Do not tape windows. Tape does not stop glass. It makes the shards larger.

Watches, warnings, and orders

A hurricane watch means conditions are possible. A warning means they are expected. Flagler’s evacuation order is the one that moves you — not a TV graphic.
If your neighborhood is named, leave early. You do not need Tennessee. You need a few miles inland or a public shelter the county has actually opened.
Not every shelter opens for every storm. Wait for the list from Emergency Management.
Bring the kit, meds, and pets only if that shelter takes them — confirm before you drive.

After the wind drops

Stay off flooded streets. Palm Coast Parkway standing water is still a car-killer.
Treat every downed line as live. Report outages to FPL, not Facebook.
Generator: outside, 20 feet from doors and windows, never in the garage. Carbon monoxide is the quiet killer after Florida storms.
Photograph damage before you haul debris. Use licensed contractors. The ones who knock the day after a hurricane are often the ones you will see in court.

Storm prep for Palm Coast