Here’s why thousands of South Florida homeowners are being told they need flood insurance

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Tens of thousands of homeowners across South Florida are getting an unpleasant surprise in the mail: A letter telling them they now need to buy flood insurance.

That’s because they’re now considered to be in a high-risk flood zone.

Numbers show that of the thousands of parcels impacted by the change, most are in Broward County. Of the nearly 89,000 parcels in Broward now requiring flood insurance, nearly 48,000 of them — more than half — are in Miramar and Pembroke Pines.

In Miami-Dade, there’s an increase of more than 45,000 parcels that now need flood insurance because they are in a higher-risk flood zone.

Roughly one in five homeowners have flood insurance in Florida, leaving the rest vulnerable to flood damage, the Insurance Information Institute’s Mark Friedlander told Local 10 News.

“It doesn’t just mean hurricanes or tropical storms,” Friedlander said. “We see severe rain events year-round in South Florida. You can have flooding on clear sunny days because of king tides.”

Most homeowners with mortgages face a requirement to carry flood insurance if the property is located in certain flood zones designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Now, that coverage area has expanded with FEMA’s updated flood maps.

“It has gone from an option for many people to now required,” Friedlander said. “FEMA typically looks at long-term data, not just one storm. If the trends show higher risk in certain areas of South Florida, particularly Broward County, the maps will be adjusted.”

Friedlander added, “All South Florida homeowners should consider flood insurance because it floods regularly in South Florida.”

Broward County has released an interactive flood zone map showing the changes.

Homeowners nationwide can also visit FEMA’s website to learn whether they are in a flood zone.

New Broward flood zone parcels by city:

• Miramar: 25,878

• Pembroke Pines: 22,079

• Fort Lauderdale: 9,455

• Hollywood: 7,392

• Oakland Park: 5,910

• Pompano Beach: 3,557

• Cooper City: 3,082

• Dania Beach: 3,055

• Wilton Manors: 1,868