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A single inch of rain flooded the Perdido Estates neighborhood in Escambia County, Florida — an area at the heart of an ongoing Flood Defenders campaign. The campaign: Gardner, Rudd, and Peer want the county to address flooding in their homes from big storms as well as flooding in their streets from small storms. Their campaign

Despite impassioned pleas from Santa Rosa residents and Flood Defenders’ Technical Advisor Chris Curb, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) did not adopt flood protection measures in the latest iteration of the county’s Land Development Code (LDC). The big picture: New development can increase a community’s flood risk, but doing so is avoidable. Smart development practices can help

Lead Flood Defender Michelle Tyler and her neighbors gathered at Oakfield Acres Park to voice their concerns about flooding.  What they’re saying: “Currently, Escambia County has allocated $4 million a year for [2015’s $417 million stormwater assessment] in local property sales tax,” Flood Defenders Technical Advisor and former stormwater manager for Escambia County Chris Curb told WEAR-TV. “That’s

Homes around Windsong Avenue and Surrey Drive in Escambia County do not sit in a flood zone, according to maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but residents say they routinely flood.  Yes, but: These residents, many of whom do not have flood insurance, should live in a flood zone, according to new flood maps from the non-profit First

Three cities in the Florida Panhandle saw more high-tide flood days in 2020 than any year on record, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Pensacola, Panama City Beach, and Panama City all broke records for high-tide flooding, also known as “nuisance” or “sunny day” flooding. While decades ago floods this high

A neighborhood in Escambia County’s District 5 shows the problem with flood maps used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  FEMA’s map doesn’t show flood risk for the Butlers’ neighborhood, unlike the newer map from First Street Foundation that shows a lot of risk. The takeaway: These homeowners were told they did not live in a floodplain

After Escambia County Flood Defenders Darlyn Butler and her brother Skip Butler got on the microphone at a town hall, their commissioner said he can do something to fix their stormwater pond. Instead, Commissioner Steven Barry suggested changes to the Cove Avenue pond. The takeaway: Flood Defenders pushed Commissioner Barry to offer a fix for their ineffective stormwater pond, but

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on FloodTrends.org. Flood Trends has since merged with Flood Defenders to form Flood Defenders News. In 2014, a freak rainstorm dropped almost two feet of water on Florida’s Escambia County in little more than a day. Whole neighborhoods were inundated. Roads and bridges washed out. A dam burst, requiring people

As hurricane season begins in Escambia County, one completed flood project shows improvement, while the slow progress of another highlights residents’ frustration. In District 3, recent flooding and local Flood Defenders pushed Commissioner Lumon May to demand a flood plan for protection in and around the Monarch subdivision.  The bad: Escambia County, not the developers, still needs to address