St. Pete: Downtown is under sea level? (St. Petersburg, Largo: home, neighborhood)

[TootsieWootsie]

I read a post here a long time about about St. Pete being under sea level and subject to flooding. Anyone have any real knowledge about this? And how susceptible are property owners in downtown St. Pete to having their property flooded or destroyed?

[Angler]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

I read a post here a long time about about St. Pete being under sea level and subject to flooding. Anyone have any real knowledge about this? And how susceptible are property owners in downtown St. Pete to having their property flooded or destroyed?

not much of downtown is in the flood zone. Pinellas County emergency management has the latest maps with evac and flood zones for the area.

[Ga Jerk]

Pinellas County Emergency Management - Home Page

[JennyMominRI]

I'd like to know this too as my home in RI is currently flooding. At least the basement is.

[gypsychic]

Just remember, St. Pete is basically a peninsula off a peninsula - it is surrounded by water and all coastal towns here are only a few feet above sea level. Nothing is "below" sea level or we would be underwater, we don't have levees here. Parts of St. Pete are prone to flooding. there is potential for any city in Florida on the coast to be underwater in a bad enough hurricane.

[lavender]

We dont have too many basements either, as it would be wet due to aquifer
If you are worried about location, and much of st pete is above flood zone, go farther inland, sometimes there is flooding on streets during really heavy storms, but its unusual for flooding unless there are really bad conditions - hurricanes, exceptional rainfall at same time as high tides.

[tjax1000]

If you want to live near the water but don't want to be in a flood zone, St. Pete is the place. Our place is around 2500 feet from the bay, in the old NE, but we're still 16 feet above base flood elevation. The important characteristic in the Old NE to downtown area is the sloping of the land. You can see this downtown where the streets are wider- you can be several blocks inland and find yourself looking slightly down to see marina and boats in the distance. When it rains in our neighborhood, you can literally see the water running down the street toward the bay. I know we're good until the water starts coming back the other direction!

Other areas of Pinellas aren't so lucky. Not far from the Old NE is Snell Isle which I believe is in a flood zone. (On a map, it almost looks like dredged land, but I'm not sure if that is correct.) And I know that in the north part of the county, parts of Oldsmar are rather low-lying.

[Mike1306]

Most of Snell Isle even right up to the water is going to be 7-8 ft above sea level.
Shore Acres which is prone to flooding during storms is about the same.

Here is a topo map that you can find the elevation of any part of St Pete

St. Petersburg Ramble Topo Map

[fmccarthy]

I'm in unincorporated Pinellas, between Largo and Seminole, 1 3/4 miles from the Gulf and 50 ft. above sea level.

[corneliuscoot]

If you really want a good idea of the elevation difference between the heart of St. Pete and the Bay, go to 22nd and 9th Street North on a clear winter day and look straight out at eye level and you can see all the way to Apollo Beach. Also, go to 49th Street and 30th Avenue N and look at the hill you are about to descend toward the Gulf. Disston Ridge is just about the highest area in St. Pete. If there ever was a Hurricane like Charley that came ashore on St. Pete, with a high tide, there would be an Island and it would be called Disston Island.