62,029 flood insurance claims·$855.8M paid·12 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Miami-Dade County, Florida. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Frequent standard floods, coastal floods, and flash floods dominate the severe weather history of Miami-Dade County, alongside tropical systems and storm surges. NOAA storm records document how heavy rainfall from stalled frontal boundaries and pinned Atlantic sea breezes produced localized urban flooding in coastal areas, such as downtown Miami and Miami Beach during events in February and March of 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs across multiple zones, with high claim volumes concentrated in both high-risk and moderate-to-low risk areas. Zone A accounts for 55,413 claims with an average payout of $22,632 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X properties recorded 4,825 claims with an average payout of $27,665 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone V properties experienced fewer claims at 485, but registered the highest average payout at $72,081 with an average recorded water depth of 3 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in high-risk coastal zones, as well as those in moderate-to-low risk areas like Zone X, should pay close attention to these flood risks given the substantial claim histories and average water depths recorded across all zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Miami-Dade County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
56,501 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1999, with 13,393 claims and $91.5M paid, the year of Hurricane Floyd and Hurricane Irene.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
168 NOAA storm reports from Miami-Dade County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
43 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 12 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Milton | Oct 5, 2024 |
| Hurricane Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Elsa | Jul 4, 2021 |
| Surfside Building Collapse | Jun 24, 2021 |
| Hurricane Isaias | Jul 31, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
343 since 1996: 61 flash floods, 114 river or area floods and 88 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 22, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 21, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Feb 18, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 12, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Sep 8, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 8, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 7, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 30, 2025. As a shortwave passed across South Florida on March 30th, the surface heating and substantial moisture supported an afternoon of instability leading to active showers and thunderstorms. The Atlantic sea breeze became pinned along the east coast metro leading to heavy rainfall in coastal Miami-Dade. With ongoing showers, there were several reports of localized, urban flooding in Miami Beach and downtown Miami.
Flood · Jul 22, 2025. Repeated rounds of rainfall from thunderstorms that developed in the afternoon and evening of July 22, 2025 over the Southeast Florida urbanized area.
Flood · Sep 21, 2025. Ample moisture, a surface boundary north of the area, and diurnal heating combined to support thunderstorms that produced heavy rainfall over Southeast Florida on the 21st of September.
Flood · Feb 18, 2025. Following the passage of a frontal surface boundary, showers remained to the north of the boundary as it sat across the Florida Keys region on February 18th. Plentiful precipitable water supported scattered shower activity along the east coast metro areas, including Miami Beach, through the afternoon and evening hours.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Miami-Dade County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.