Pace FL Public Adjusters | Hurricane, Wind, Water & Roof Damage Claims Help

Pace is an unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County, just north of Escambia Bay, northeast of Pensacola and west of Milton. With no city government of its own, Pace relies on Santa Rosa County for building permits, floodplain management and emergency management. The community takes in the old bayside settlement of Floridatown and the Pea Ridge area.

Pace is named for James G. Pace, whose lumber, paper and turpentine businesses operated in the area. It stayed a small rural community for most of the twentieth century, then grew quickly from about 1980 on into a bedroom community for Pensacola. The area's industrial history goes back much further: from 1817 to 1855, the Arcadia mill complex on Pond Creek ran sawmills, a textile mill and one of the first railroads chartered in territorial Florida. Read more about the history of Arcadia Mill from the UWF Historic Trust.

Storm risk in Pace depends on where a property sits. Most of the community is on higher ground well inland from the Gulf, where hurricanes bring damaging wind, falling trees and long bands of heavy rain that test roofs, gutters and drainage ditches. The lower ground is along the water. Bayfront homes in the Floridatown area can take on water when a hurricane pushes Escambia Bay over its banks, and properties near Pond Creek and the Escambia River marshes can flood as rain keeps falling after landfall. In past hurricanes, Santa Rosa County has urged residents along Pond Creek to evacuate as the creek rose.

Most Pace properties are single-family homes, from older houses on larger lots to subdivisions built in the last few decades, with manufactured homes in the mix. US 90 and Woodbine Road carry the community's shopping centers, restaurants, medical offices and service businesses, with a cluster of retail at Five Points, where Woodbine Road meets Chumuckla Highway. Storm claims here commonly involve roof and wind damage, fallen-tree damage, water intrusion from wind-driven rain, and lost income for businesses closed during repairs.

Pace has no city government, so evacuation zones, shelter openings and storm updates for the whole community come from Santa Rosa County Emergency Management; look up your zone before hurricane season, not during a storm.

Reroofs and other storm repairs in Pace are permitted by the county, which also posts the wind speed maps new roofs are built to, so confirm your contractor has pulled a permit through Santa Rosa County Permitting & Building Compliance before work starts.

If your home is near Escambia Bay, Pond Creek or another low spot, the county's Floodplain Management office can give you your flood zone, copies of elevation certificates, and a substantial damage determination when a flooded building needs major repairs.