Building Department

FLOOD INFORMATION

For current weather information

Click on the following link

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Building Permits in Special Flood Hazard Areas

Substantial Improvement Information and Cumulative Substantial Improvement Verification Work Sheet

FLOOD PROTECTION INFORMATION

The National Weather Service, along with the Miami-Dade Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security provides flood warning information to Village residents. The following local radio and television stations will provide information as part of the Emergency Broadcasting System:

   AM RADIO          TELEVISION

   WIOD -610          WTVJ - Ch 4
   WQBA-1140        WCIX - Ch 6
   WINZ- 940           WSVN - Ch 7
   WAQI-710            WLTV - Ch 23

Police Department.....(305)759-2468
Fire Department.........(305)513-7930
Building Department...(305) 795-2204

Planning Department…........................................(305) 795-2207
DERM (Dept. Of Env Resource Management)........(305) 372-6689
So. Florida Water Management.............................(305) 377-7274
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency...(770) 220-5200

Additional information on floods and flood protection is available at the Miami Shores, Brockway Memorial Library, 10021 NE 2^nd Avenue.

Additional Information National Flood Insurance Program

http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/index.jsp

FLOOD SAFETY

It takes only six (6) inches of moving water to knock a person down causing injury and possibly death. In order to protect your property and human lives, the following steps should be taken:
1. Have an evacuation plan. Have two weeks worth of medication, food and water.
2. The elderly, disabled or persons with special needs should register with Metro-Dade County’s Division of Emergency Management.
3. Trees should be trimmed regularly, prior to a hurricane in preparation for possible flooding.
4. Doors, windows or any building openings should be secured.
5. Driving through flooded areas should be avoided; power lines may be down.
6. Be alert to gas leaks. Candles and any other type of open flames should be carefully monitored.

FLOOD INFORMATION

The Building Department maintains elevation certificates that have been filed with the department for properties that have been substantially improved. Copies of elevation certificates that are on file with the Building Department are available at, 10050 NE 2^nd Avenue, telephone number (305) 795-2204.

The Planning Department maintains a copy of the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) and can help you to locate your property on the FIRM map and find the FIRM zone for your property. The Planning Department is located at 10050 NE 2^nd Avenue, telephone number (305) 795-2207.

Or, you may click on the links provided to go to the FEMA web site and review the FIRM maps for Miami Shores.

DRAINAGE MAINTENANCE

Canals and channels in our community provide an invaluable drainage feature to help carry potential floodwaters away. Grass clippings and branches can accumulate and plug channels. A plugged channel contributes to flooding in surrounding areas. Do not dump or throw anything into the bay, rivers, canals or any other body of water that helps our drainage system. Dumping is a violation of Village and County Codes. Dumping can be reported to the Code Enforcement Division of Miami Shores Village, telephone (305) 7954862.

PERMIT REQUIREMENTS/ PROTECTION MEASURES

Before you build, alter, re-grade or put fill on your property, you need to check with the Building Department. Permits are required to ensure that all of the work is properly done and to avoid further problems. Failure to obtain permits can result in an unsafe building, a fine and possible court action.

While recent improvements in construction practices and regulations have made new homes less prone to flood damage, there are a significant number of existing homes that are susceptible to flood losses. These losses can be minimized through some of the temporary and permanent retrofitting techniques: 1) Construction of small flood walls, 2) Water proofing of your walls and water tightening closures of doorways, 3) Raising your property above the flood level. Information on these techniques can be obtained from the Building Department.

Please contact the Building Department at 305-795-2204 to discuss what you may do to reduce the potential for flood damage to your new or existing home.

FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT IN MIAMI SHORES

Miami Shores adopted Chapter 8.5 Creation of Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, in response to FEMA requirements to adopt a flood damage prevention ordinance.

The requirements of Chapter 8.5 are in addition to the regulations of the underlying zoning district and the building code. The requirements of Chapter 8.5 must be met before any zoning approval or building permit may be granted.

SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA)

The Special Flood Hazard Area is the area that would be inundated by a 100 year flood.

Reference to a 100 year flood however is misleading because it does not actually mean a flood like that will only happen once every 100 years. A 100 year flood has a 1% chance of occurring yearly and what this means is the chance is small but you could have a 100 year flood two years in a row or twice in five or ten years.

Please be aware, properties that are not within the Special Flood Hazard Area may also be subject to flooding.

The SFHA is the area where the NFIP's floodplain management regulations must be enforced by the village and the area where the mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies as described below. The SFHA includes Zones A, AO, AH, A1-30, AE, A99, AR, AR/A1-30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH, AR/A, VO, V1-30, VE, and V.

Of the zones listed, the following SFHA Zones are found in Miami Shores: AE-7, AE-8, AE-9, AE-10, AH-11, VE and V.

The VE zone is a Special Flood Hazard Area found in Miami Shores in an area along Biscayne Bay. The VE zone is a coastal flood zone with velocity hazard (wave action) and additional regulations over and above those for the Special Flood Hazard Area in general, apply to development in the VE zone. Check with the Building Department for Details.

FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM) FOR MIAMI SHORES

FEMA adopted new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for Miami Shores, September 11, 2009. The previous maps are replaced by FIRM Panel Number 12086C0139L (NW Miami Shores) 12086C0302L (SW Miami Shores) and FIRM Panel Number 12086C0306L (East Miami Shores).

A map in PDF form has been prepared by the planning department representing the Special Flood Hazard Area Zones for Miami Shores. Please read the following Disclaimer before accessing the map

Disclaimer

THIS MAP IS PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Any person, firm or corporation which uses this map or any of the enclosed information assumes all risk for the inaccuracy thereof, as Miami Shores expressly disclaims any liability for loss or damage arising from the use of said information by any third party.

Miami Shores Flood Zones Map

Letters of Map Change (LOMC)

FEMA uses the most accurate flood hazard information available and applies rigorous standards in developing the FIRMs. However, because of limitations of scale or topographic definition of the source maps used to prepare a FIRM, small areas may be inadvertently shown within an SFHA on a FIRM even though the property (legally defined parcel(s) of land, structure[s]) is on natural ground and is at or above the elevation of the 1-percent-annual-chance flood. This elevation is most commonly referred to as the Base Flood Elevation, or BFE. Such cases are referred to as "inadvertent inclusions."

For other small areas, earthen fill may have been placed during construction, thereby elevating a small area within the SFHA to an elevation that is at or above the BFE. This construction may have taken place during the time the engineering study was being performed or subsequent to that study. Because of the limited extent of the elevated area and the limitations of the map scale, it may not have been possible for FEMA to show this area as being outside the SFHA and so these areas have been incorrectly included in the SFHA on the FIRM.

Recognizing that these situations do occur, FEMA established administrative procedures to change the designation for these properties on the FIRM. These processes are referred to as the Letter of Map Amendment, or LOMA, process and the Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill, or LOMR-F, process. Through these processes, an individual who owns, rents, or leases property may submit certain mapping and survey information to FEMA and request that FEMA issue a document that officially removes a property and/or structure from the SFHA. In most cases, the applicant will need to hire a Licensed Land Surveyor or Registered Professional Engineer to prepare an Elevation Certificate for the property. Upon receiving a complete application forms package, FEMA will normally complete its review and issue its determination in 4 to 6 weeks.

FEMA Information on LOMA and LOMR-F

COASTAL HIGH HAZARD AREA

An area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to the inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast and any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources. The coastal high hazard area is identified as Zone V on Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Special floodplain management requirements apply in V Zones including the requirement that all buildings be elevated on piles or columns.

An area within Miami Shores along Biscayne Bay is within the coastal high hazard area, V Zone, as shown on FIRM Panel Number 12086C0139L. The coastal high hazard area is also identified in the Miami Shores Village Comprehensive Plan 2025 map 5.1 Coastal High Hazard Area.

SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE/IMPROVEMENT 50% RULE

The following definitions should assist you in determining if you fall under the 50% rule, special development regulations will apply:

Substantial Damage: Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

Substantial Improvement means any combination of reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, taking place during a one (1) year period, the cumulative cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes structures that have incurred "substantial damage" regardless of the actual repair work performed. This term does not, however, include any repair or improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of State of Florida or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications, which have been identified by the local code enforcement official prior to the application for permit for improvement, and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions.

NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM

The National Flood Insurance Program is a federal program created in 1968 to provide flood insurance to people who live in areas with the greatest risk of flooding, called Special Flood Hazard Areas. The program provides an alternative to disaster assistance and reduces the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods. The program provides flood insurance, while at the same time encouraging the sensible management and use of floodplains to reduce flood damage. The National Flood Insurance Program offers flood insurance to homeowners, renters and business owners, provided their communities use the program’s strategies for reducing flood risk, including adopting and enforcing floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. Community participation in the National Flood Insurance Program is voluntary. However, flood insurance and many kinds of federal disaster assistance are not available in communities that do not participate in the program.

Floodplain management is the operation of a community program of corrective and preventative measures for reducing flood damage. These measures take a variety of forms and generally include requirements for zoning, subdivision or building, and special-purpose floodplain ordinances.

A community's agreement to adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances, particularly with respect to new construction and substantial improvement to existing structures, is an important element in making flood insurance available to home and business owners.

Some areas within Miami Shores Village have been designated “Special Flood Hazard Areas” by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Generally homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover flood damage, and disaster assistance programs will not cover all of your losses. However because Miami Shores Village participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, you can purchase a separate flood insurance policy. Federal law requires all properties located in the Special Flood Hazard Area that are secured by a federally backed mortgage (FHA, VA, FNMA, etc.) to carry flood insurance. The National Flood Insurance program provided by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) makes flood insurance available to everyone in the Village whether they live in a floodplain or not and even for properties that have never been flooded. Information on the cost and coverage of flood policies can be obtained from your insurance agent. If you own your home you can purchase coverage for the structure and the contents, if you rent you can purchase coverage for contents. In most cases there is a 30-day waiting period before the flood insurance policy becomes effective. For most people, a home and its contents are their greatest investment. Maintaining flood insurance to protect yourself from a devastating loss is essential. Be sure you have content coverage and that the policy limits are sufficient to cover the present day value of your potential losses.

As a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Ratings System (CRS), the Village takes measures to reduce and ultimately, eliminate the community’s exposure to floods. Presently, Village residents may receive a 10% discount on their flood insurance policy. Check with your insurance agent for details.

PURCHASING FLOOD INSURANCE

Information is available from the National Flood Insurance Program at the link below:

Residential Coverage the Basics

ONLINE FLOOD INFORMATION

The following flood information brochures are available from FEMA and are provided below in PDF form.

National Flood Insurance Program Summary of Coverage

Flood Insurance Claims Handbook

Elevating Your Floodprone House

Homeowner's Guide To Retrofitting

Protecting Your Property from Flooding

Flood Damage Resistant Materials Requirements

Free of Obstruction Requirements