Does Melrose flood?

Melrose, Miami, FL · ZIP code 33142: the ZIP code on 315 of the 319 flood insurance claims counted here. ZIP codes do not follow neighborhood lines.

Yes. Insured properties in and around Melrose have filed flood claims. About 92% of Melrose’s mapped area is inside FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Area (high-risk zones such as AE). NFIP flood insurance records list 319 claims from the Census block groups that cover Melrose, from 1991 through 2023. 201 of them received a payment, totaling $3,591,387 (not adjusted for inflation). The busiest years were 2000 (143 claims), 1999 (69 claims), 2020 (26 claims).

Past claims do not predict future flooding, and a neighborhood figure cannot tell you about one building. Look up the exact address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (or the Miami-Dade County Flood Zone map viewer) and get flood insurance quotes before you sign a lease or a contract.

Check a specific address in Melrose

Neighborhood figures are averages. Our address check looks up the FEMA flood zone and the hurricane evacuation zone at one address, from the same public maps: check if your address is in a flood zone.

Flood zones street by street in Melrose

The named streets in Melrose, longest first, with how much of each street’s length inside Melrose lies in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (the Special Flood Hazard Area, zones A and V). Length is the part inside Melrose; the main zone is the FEMA zone covering most of that length. A street can cross several zones, so the zone at one address can differ from the street’s main zone: check the address above for that. 7 shorter streets are not listed.

Streets: U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, Transportation (primary, secondary and local roads). Flood zones: Miami-Dade County GIS, FEMA Flood Zone feature layer (county copy of FEMA flood hazard zones), retrieved October 24, 2026. Each street is clipped to the neighborhood boundary and measured in an equal-area projection. Street lengths are rounded.

Flood zones in Melrose

Share of Melrose’s mapped area (about 2.406 km²) in each FEMA flood zone, from Miami-Dade County GIS, FEMA Flood Zone feature layer (county copy of FEMA flood hazard zones). Mapped base flood elevations inside the neighborhood range from 8 to 10 feet.

What the zones mean

Zone AE (and A, AH, AO)

High-risk: part of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the area FEMA maps as having a 1-percent chance of flooding in any given year (the “100-year” or base flood). AE areas have a mapped base flood elevation.

Zone VE (and V)

High-risk coastal areas, also in the SFHA, where the base flood is expected to bring additional hazards from storm waves.

Zone X (shaded)

Moderate hazard: between the limits of the 1-percent and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (“500-year”) flood.

Zone X (unshaded)

Minimal hazard: outside the SFHA and higher than the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood elevation. Minimal is not zero: flood claims are filed from X zones too.

Source: FEMA Glossary: Flood Zones.

Flood insurance claims over time

Claims filed under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from the 2010 Census block groups that cover Melrose. About 75% of the combined area of those block groups lies inside Melrose, so the claim figures also reflect some nearby blocks. Only insured properties appear, so these counts understate total flooding.

By decade

By year of loss

Named flood events with the most claims

• Flooding: 144 claims
• Hurricane Irene: 68 claims
• Hurricane Andrew: 12 claims
• Hurricane Wilma: 8 claims
• Hurricane Katrina: 7 claims

FEMA labels some events only as “Flooding”. Claims by the flood zone the property was rated in:

• A/AE/AH/AO (high risk): 281
• Not reported: 36
• X/B/C (moderate or minimal): 2

How much is flood insurance in Melrose?

The typical National Flood Insurance Program policy on single-family homes in Melrose costs $884 a year: the median of 358 policies that started between August 1, 2025 and July 31, 2026. Half of them cost between $739 and $1,029. That is the full amount paid for the year, the premium plus FEMA’s fees and surcharges, and every one of these policies is priced under Risk Rating 2.0. A quote for one building can be far from this: its elevation, foundation, age, coverage and deductible all change the price. Private flood insurance is not included.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Dataset: FIMA NFIP Redacted Policies - v3, computed October 24, 2026.

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Before you rent or buy in Melrose

• Look up the exact address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center; a neighborhood can mix high-risk and minimal-hazard zones.
• Ask the landlord or seller about past flooding and flood insurance claims at the property.
• Get a flood insurance quote early: new NFIP policies usually take 30 days to start (FloodSmart (NFIP): Buy a Flood Insurance Policy).
• Ask which floor the unit is on and where parking, storage and mechanical equipment sit.
• Hiring movers? Check the moving company’s federal license and insurance first with the free Miami mover check.

Living in Melrose

Flood maps are only one part of choosing a neighborhood. For what day-to-day life in Melrose is like, from parks to errands, see Living in Melrose, Miami on StrollPlace.

Buyer and renter FAQ

FAQ sources: FloodSmart (NFIP): Buy a Flood Insurance Policy; FEMA Fact Sheet: Think you don’t need flood insurance? Think again (Jan. 21, 2025); 44 CFR 61.11, Effective date and time of coverage.

Nearby neighborhoods

• Flora Park – living in Flora Park (StrollPlace)
• Hadley Park – living in Hadley Park (StrollPlace)
• Does Santa Clara flood?
• 36th Street Strip
• Allapattah Industrial District
• Does Curtis Park flood?

How these numbers were made

Neighborhood boundary: City of Miami, Miami Neighborhoods (ArcGIS feature service). Flood zone shares: the neighborhood polygon intersected with Miami-Dade County GIS, FEMA Flood Zone feature layer (county copy of FEMA flood hazard zones), area computed in an equal-area projection; retrieved October 21, 2026. Claims: OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3 records for Miami-Dade County (county code 12086), dataset as of September 8, 2026, retrieved October 21, 2026. A 2010 Census block group is counted for a neighborhood when at least 25% of the block group lies inside the neighborhood, or at least 25% of the neighborhood lies inside the block group. Block groups used: 120860024021 (50.4% of the block group is inside Melrose), 120860024022 (51.1% of the block group is inside Melrose), 120860024042 (92.0% of the block group is inside Melrose), 120860024041 (98.8% of the block group is inside Melrose), 120860024032 (99.6% of the block group is inside Melrose), 120860024031 (84.1% of the block group is inside Melrose). Neighboring pages can share a block group, so their counts can overlap. Paid totals add building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments and are not adjusted for inflation; a claim whose FEMA record shows a negative payment (an adjustment) counts as zero. Storm surge: the neighborhood polygon overlaid on NHC’s Category 1–5 high-tide inundation GeoTIFFs (about 10 m cells in 1-ft depth classes); each share is the fraction of cells whose center lies inside the polygon and that NHC maps with water above ground, counting cells NHC leaves blank as not flooded. Evacuation zones: the polygon intersected with Miami-Dade County’s zone polygons in an equal-area projection; shares below 0.1% are left out. Tree canopy: the mean of the 2025 NLCD Tree Canopy Cover values (0–100%, 30 m cells in an equal-area projection) for cells whose center lies inside the polygon. Tornado: the FEMA National Risk Index tornado rating and score of each census tract that covers the neighborhood, weighted by its share of the area. FEMA National Risk Index: census tracts intersected with the polygon in an equal-area projection; each rating’s share is the share of the polygon covered by tracts with that rating (tracts covering less than 1% are left out; together the tracts used cover 100%). We do not compute a new score. Tracts used: 12086002404 (36%), 12086002403 (35%), 12086002402 (29%). See the methodology.

Sources

1. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), FEMA OpenFEMA Dataset: FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims - v3. Retrieved on October 21, 2026.
2. Miami-Dade County GIS, FEMA Flood Zone feature layer (county copy of FEMA flood hazard zones). Retrieved on October 21, 2026.
3. City of Miami, Miami Neighborhoods (ArcGIS feature service).
4. U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, 2010 Census Block Groups.
5. FEMA Glossary: Flood Zones.
6. FloodSmart (NFIP): Buy a Flood Insurance Policy.
7. FEMA Fact Sheet: Think you don’t need flood insurance? Think again (Jan. 21, 2025).
8. 44 CFR 61.11, Effective date and time of coverage.
9. OpenFEMA Terms and Conditions.
10. NOAA National Hurricane Center, National Storm Surge Risk Maps, Version 4 (Texas to Maine, high tide scenario, GeoTIFF dated June 17, 2026) (computed October 21, 2026).
11. Zachry, B. C., W. J. Booth, J. R. Rhome, and T. M. Sharon, 2015: A National View of Storm Surge Risk and Inundation. Weather, Climate, and Society, 7(2), 109–117 (NHC’s preferred citation).
12. Miami-Dade County, Storm Surge Planning Zones (Hurricane Evacuation Zone feature layer) (retrieved October 21, 2026).
13. Miami-Dade County: Storm Surge (Storm Surge Planning Zones).
14. USDA Forest Service. 2026. USFS NLCD Percent Tree Canopy CONUS v2025-6 (2025 map). Salt Lake City, UT (30 m cells; read October 21, 2026).
15. National Weather Service: Heat Safety.
16. U.S. EPA: Using Trees and Vegetation to Reduce Heat Islands.
17. FEMA National Risk Index, Census Tracts feature layer, Version 1.20.0 (December 2025) (retrieved October 21, 2026).
18. FEMA OpenFEMA Dataset: FIMA NFIP Redacted Policies - v3.
19. U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, Transportation (primary, secondary and local roads).

Data as of September 8, 2026 (FEMA claims) and October 21, 2026 (flood zones); hazard data computed October 21, 2026. Page last updated October 31, 2026.