Flood Disasters

Floods are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters outside of fire. In fact, floods are often caused by storms, hurricanes, and water backup due to inadequate or overload drainage systems and is virtually never covered by standard homeowner’s insurance.

Protect Your Property from Floods

When severe flooding threatens your area, there are things you can do to protect your family and property. Here are some actions you can take:

• Avoid power lines that have fallen.
• Do not smoke or use open flames in your house until you are sure no gas leaks exist.
• Do not walk or drive through standing or flowing water. There might be sinkholes or live electrical wires.
• Even if you plan to stay home, have an evacuation kit ready just in case.
• If you are required to leave your house, let out of town relatives know where you are going.
• Turn off the power in your house, including gas tanks.
• Use caution when approaching animals after a disaster. Even domesticated animals can react to stress by biting.
• Watch your step in damaged areas. Slip and fall accidents are a leading cause of injuries after a disaster occurs.
• You can also construct permanent flood protection measures, such as elevating your structure or retrofitting or floodproofing the structure to provide better flood protection.

Local Flood Hazard

The Town of Medley lies in a relatively flat, low lying area of the County. Medley has lakes, the Miami Canal and other bodies of water that could impact the Town during heavy rainfall. The impacts can include flooding, which can impact property and endanger lives.

When heavy rainfall occurs during the rainy season, the stormwater runoff has nowhere to drain, leading to occasional localized flooding. During these events it is possible that man-made canals such as the C-5 and C-6 Canals could overtop their banks or otherwise get backed up. This can cause localized flooding in those areas next to the canals.

This can also cause secondary canals and neighborhood drainage systems to back up, making the flooding problems worse. Past flood events such as Hurricane Irene (1999) and the No-Name storm of October 2000 left many areas of the City with flooded conditions for long periods of time, causing business disruptions, power losses and other negative impacts to the community.

FEMA has designated approximately half of the Town as being in Special Flood Hazard Areas, also known as flood zones. To find out if your property lies in such a high-risk zone, please contact the Town of Medley Floodplain Administrator at 305.887.9541.

Elevation Certificates

An Elevation Certificate (EC) documents what the elevation of your structure is and compares it to the required minimum elevation for your area.

For example, if the flood zone for your area is AE8, that means that for FEMA’s 1% chance storm, it would flood up to 8 feet above sea level. The EC would then show the lowest elevation of your structure, and you can compare the two. In this example, if the lowest floor on the EC is less than 8 feet, you are more likely to flood, and your potential liability would be increased. If, however, your lowest floor is higher than the 8 feet, you are relatively safer from the 1% chance storm.

The EC is an important document to have when you purchase flood insurance. The agent will use that information to determine how much you will pay in flood insurance premiums. Again the higher that structure, the lower your premiums should be.

To see what Elevation Certificates the Town has on file, you can click here to access the Town of Medley Public Records Library.

Build Responsibly

Did you know that most, if not all, construction in the Town requires a building permit? To inquire about Building Permits, please contact the Building and Zoning Department. Please note structure built without the proper permits can endanger the whole neighborhood if a storm threatens.

Flood Insurance

The Town of Medley participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Flood insurance at affordable rates can be purchased from a licensed private insurance company or independent property and casualty insurance agent.

Talk to your insurance if you have any questions, would like additional information, and/or are ready to purchase a flood insurance policy. Your policy will take effect 30 days after your purchase.

Assistance and Inspections

The Town of Medley offers a free service that can help property owners better prepare for flooding.For free flood assistance and/or inspections, you can contact the Town of Medley Floodplain Administrator at the Building and Zoning department.

For further flood protection information, please use the following links:

• www.floodsmart.gov
• www.fema.gov
• www.floridadisaster.org (for the state Division of Emergency Management)
• https://www.ready.gov/floods

U.S. Small Business Administration
https://www.sba.gov/

• U.S. Small Business- Disaster Loans- General Information- Fact Sheet (English / Spanish)

Community Development Block Grant Programs (CDBG)

• Hurricane Irma - Disaster Recovery - FloridaJobs.org
• SKM_C75921031017470 (floridajobs.org)