Hurricane‐related morphodynamics and implications for hazard mitigation, Perdido Key, Florida, U.S.A.

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Abstract
Perdido Key, a transgressive barrier island situated along Northwest Florida, U.S.A., is used to exemplify the importance of prior planning for posthurricane reconstruction along populated coastal areas. A framework is presented in which nine selected planning criterion (erosion rate setbacks, foredune preservation, hazard zone restrictions, estuarine setbacks, planned unit developments, evacuation planning, vertical evacuation, hazard district taxation, and public participation) are integrated with data describing the morphological response of the barrier to two recent hurricanes—Frederic (1979) and Elena (1985)—prompting the confluence of government and market forces towards a more unified and complete mitigation approach. The “window of opportunity”; concept inter alia, is advocated as a necessary approach to enhance mitigative planning via its inception during the short‐lived “launch windows”; phase following a destructive hurricane. The general nature of the overall approach discussed allows for its application along other populated coastal areas where the recurrence of hurricanes is an important facet of coastal planning and management.

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