South Florida's Nov. 1 flash floods: what federal records show
The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for Okeechobee and Miami-Dade counties in Florida on November 1, 2026. In Okeechobee, it called the flooding life threatening. Here is what the warnings said and what federal flood records show for those places, including what the records can't tell you.
Okeechobee County
In its update at 5:05 PM Eastern, the National Weather Service said 5 to 9 inches of rain had fallen in southeastern Okeechobee County, with up to 1 more inch possible, and that flash flooding was already occurring. It passed on law enforcement reports that portions of SR 70 and US 441 in and around the City of Okeechobee were impassable and that water was entering structures. That update ran until 6:30 PM. Check the National Weather Service in Melbourne for anything newer than this post.
Federal flood insurance records list 295 National Flood Insurance Program claims in Okeechobee County from 1979 through 2025. 161 of them were paid, $1,921,426 in all. The largest sources are Hurricane Wilma (58), Hurricane Frances (53), Hurricane Jeanne (51) and Tropical Storm Fay (38). 28 claims came in 2015 or later. 77 of the 295, about 26%, were rated in zones B, C or X, FEMA's moderate and minimal categories, at the time of the policy. These are countywide figures. We don't have neighborhood pages for Okeechobee County.
Miami-Dade County
The National Weather Service issued a warning for central Miami-Dade at 12:18 PM Eastern, saying radar indicated 3 to 5 inches of rain had fallen, with 1 to 2 more inches possible, and that flash flooding was "ongoing or expected to begin shortly." It cancelled the warning at 1:04 PM. Its list of places also included Pinecrest, Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Goulds and Homestead Base, along with the seven below. That warning describes radar and risk at that moment. It doesn't report which streets flooded, and this post doesn't either.
| Place named in the warning | Area in high-risk zones | Claims on record | Paid | Claims since 2015 | Largest source (claims) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendall | 24.3% | 2,336 | $14,468,800 | 64 | Hurricane Irene (565) |
| Richmond West | 26.3% | 2,266 | $22,201,027 | 35 | Hurricane Katrina (818) |
| South Miami Heights | 27.9% | 1,649 | $30,873,553 | 36 | Hurricane Katrina (801) |
| Princeton | 39.0% | 450 | $3,208,282 | 33 | Hurricane Katrina (196) |
| Palmetto Estates | 7.2% | 266 | $4,770,736 | 4 | Hurricane Andrew (82) |
| Richmond Heights | 24.2% | 261 | $952,784 | 12 | Hurricane Andrew (85) |
| Naranja | 42.2% | 212 | $1,658,556 | 6 | Hurricane Katrina (105) |
Most of these claims are tied to named hurricanes, and a smaller number are logged simply as flooding. Claims since 2015 are 2% to 7% of each total. In Kendall, 64 of 2,336 claims came in 2015 or later, and about 24.3% of the area is in FEMA's high-risk zones.
How to read this
- Claims are public only by census block group, so these counts describe the area around a home, not the home. Nearby places can share block groups, so don't add the rows together.
- Few claims can simply mean few policies. Past claims don't predict future flooding, and this does not label any place safe or unsafe.
- Heavy rain can flood streets outside FEMA's high-risk zones. The Miami-Dade warning lists urban areas, streets, underpasses and poor drainage areas among the impacts.
If you are in either area, your first sources are local officials and the National Weather Service (Melbourne for Okeechobee, Miami for Miami-Dade). The warnings' own advice is not to drive on flooded roads. Miami-Dade claims data as of 2026-09-08 and Okeechobee claims read November 1, 2026, both from FEMA's OpenFEMA NFIP claims dataset. Flood zones from FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer. Check an exact address below. Standard homeowners policies generally don't cover flood damage.
This site does not label any place safe or unsafe. Past claims do not predict future flooding. Always check the exact address.