Resilience in Action: Creative Risk Communication in South Pasadena, FL

Situated on the Gulf of Mexico, 95% of the more than 3,000 homes in South Pasadena face extreme flooding risks - and proactive communication before, during, and after flooding events is a critical part of the work that Terri Sullivan, CFM, Community Improvement Director and Building Official for South Pasadena, takes on each day. Terri’s department in South Pasadena covers a range of responsibilities including zoning, floodplain management, permitting and inspections, business taxes, and code enforcement – all of which involve constant, and often complex, communications with residents. Because of the elevated flood risk that the community faces, “It’s vital that our residents and business owners understand the risks for their individual properties,” Terri noted.

Communication in Blue Skies

Over the years, South Pasadena has taken a variety of creative approaches to communicating flood risk - and not just during severe weather events. They’ve made it a point to communicate with residents during blue skies, too, when imminent threats to health, safety, and property are not distracting residents from taking a proactive approach to mitigating their property’s risk. 

Storm Surge Initiative

One lesson that South Pasadena has learned over the years is that showing - not just telling - is an important strategy when it comes to communicating flood risk. When the community updated their floodplain ordinance several years ago, Terri’s team placed physical markers around town that showed the height that storm surge would reach throughout South Pasadena. Each marker denoted storm surge level (from 1 to 5), the average height of water, typical wind speeds that would be involved in such a flooding event, and described the degree of damage to be expected. This made it easier for residents to visualize the often-complex storm surge warnings and better understand how it would impact them and their properties. By leveraging existing light poles and sign posts to place these placards, Terri’s team was able to pull this off without substantial costs or resources.

Public Website Initiative

More recently, Terri and her team have enhanced public communication efforts through the launch of a Forerunner-powered website that makes it easy for residents to look up relevant flood risk data for specific properties. To promote the website, her department announced its launch on their website, and hosted a family-friendly block party in a local park where they handed out informational flyers and shared floodplain management strategies with more than 250 residents.

Post-Disaster Communications

Along with communicating flood risk to residents before a severe weather event, South Pasadena has also found ways to improve communication around damage estimates and post-disaster permitting procedures after a storm – something that became especially critical following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which hit the area back-to-back this past fall. With every South Pasadena property located in the Special Flood Hazard Area, assessing the damage after these two storms was a significant and urgent challenge for the community.   

In order to effectively communicate with residents, South Pasadena first needed a way to urgently assess damage and costs. The city quickly trained its inspectors and permit technicians to perform Substantial Damage Estimates on every property in the city using Forerunner’s Substantial Damage Estimates Tool, which combines FEMA's SDE logic with property-level data to generate accurate SDEs for FEMA, property owners, and to keep on record.

Terri’s team was then able to track properties as SDEs were completed and to rapidly generate substantial damage determination letters to send to owners of the impacted properties. These letters not only describe the findings of the city’s damage estimate, but also offer guidance on bringing a property up to current codes and standards, and on leveraging Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) payments for costs associated with meeting those codes and standards.  

In total, 559 substantial damage determination letters have been generated by the city using Forerunner’s platform and sent directly to property owners. 

Looking Ahead

As South Pasadena looks to the future, aging infrastructure and the increasing severity of storms both underscore the need to continue socializing risk – and mitigation opportunities – to private property owners. For their part, Terri and her team are committed to continuing their creative strategies and finding ways to meet the public where they are – both in-person and online. And at Forerunner, we’re committed to helping Terri, and teams just like hers across the country, with not just weathering the storm but building stronger, more resilient communities for the future.