Escambia County, FL Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Escambia County layers hurricane-specific construction standards on top of its base floodplain rules for anything seaward of the state's coastal construction control line. 11(b) requires buildings and structures that extend, in whole or in part, seaward of the coastal construction control line and also sit in a flood hazard area to meet the more restrictive of the Florida Building Code's Building Section 3109 and Section 1612, or the Residential Code's Section R322. 54, Florida Statutes, must still comply with this article and with ASCE 24, the national flood-resistant design standard.

11(a) separately requires any building exempt from the Florida Building Code, including substantial improvements or repairs of substantial damage, to be designed and built to ASCE 24's flood load and flood-resistant construction requirements. 11(c) allows non-elevated accessory structures below the required elevation only if used solely for parking or storage, one story and no larger than 600 square feet with flood openings in Zone A/AE areas outside coastal high-hazard zones, or no larger than 100 square feet and not below an elevated building in coastal high-hazard Zone VE, anchored against flotation in both cases and built with flood damage-resistant materials below the base flood elevation.