Read that again: the biggest flood-loss event in modern Broward history had no name, no category, and no landfall. It was rain that would not stop falling over Fort Lauderdale. If you are waiting for a hurricane warning to think about flood insurance, Broward's own claims record says you are watching the wrong sky.
Broward County flood insurance at a glance
| What | The number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average annual NFIP premium | $577 | FEMA policy records, 2026 |
| Flood policies in force | 212,438 | FEMA NFIP, 2026 |
| Paid to Broward policyholders, last 10 years | $349,118,573 (8,483 claims) | FEMA claims records |
| Flood claims since 1978 | 35,037 | FEMA claims records |
| CRS discount (unincorporated county only) | 20% (Class 6) | FEMA CRS list, April 2026 |
| Flood zones on Broward maps | AE, AH, AO, VE, X | Broward County flood map FAQ |
| Current flood maps effective | July 31, 2024 | FEMA / Broward County |
Screenshot this table. When an agent quotes you, or a lender demands proof of coverage at closing, you will want these numbers in your pocket.
Reviewed by Matt Williams, licensed Florida insurance agent. Last verified: July 14, 2026.
What flood insurance actually costs in Broward County
The countywide average is $577 a year. That is the cheapest average premium of Florida's four largest flood markets: Broward policyholders pay less on average than Miami-Dade ($602), and far less than Pinellas ($1,314) or Hillsborough ($1,352). An average is not your quote, but in Broward the spread around that average is driven by five things you can actually check.
1. Your building, and which flood zone your address sits in. Under Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA prices the policy from the building: flood frequency at the site, the flood types nearby, distance to water, first-floor height and rebuilding cost. The zone decides whether coverage is required. Broward's maps carry zones AE, AH, and AO inland (all high-risk), VE along the coast (high-risk plus storm-wave hazard), and X for lower-risk areas. High-risk zones (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) carry the mandatory purchase rule for federally regulated mortgages. Zone X addresses are optional for most lenders and often cost less because the flood risk at the building is lower. More on the mandatory-purchase rule in the zone lookup section below.
2. Whether your maps just changed on you. Broward County's current Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) took effect July 31, 2024. A map revision moves property lines in and out of the SFHA, and thousands of Broward addresses saw their designation change. If you bought your policy, or skipped one, based on the old maps, your zone may not be what you think it is. Check your address against the current map before you assume anything.
3. Your city's CRS class, not the county's. The Community Rating System (CRS) is FEMA's discount program for communities that exceed minimum floodplain standards. Here is the part almost everyone in Broward gets wrong, covered in detail below, because in this county the discount belongs to your city, not to "Broward."
4. Your building's age relative to October 1972. FEMA's Community Status Book dates Broward County's first flood map identification to October 26, 1972. Homes built before their community's first FIRM ("pre-FIRM" construction) were built to no flood elevation standard, and homes built after had to meet one. Insurers price that difference. If your Broward home predates the early 1970s, expect the rating to reflect it, and if it was built after, make sure you are getting credit for it.
5. Claims history where you live. The county's 10-year record ($349,118,573 paid across 8,483 claims) is not spread evenly. It is concentrated where the April 2023 rain sat and where Hurricane Irma (2017) and Hurricane Eta (2020) pushed water. Insurers see the same concentration you are about to see in the events table.
Want the statewide picture first? See what flood insurance costs across Florida and NFIP vs. private flood insurance, then come back and get a Broward-specific number.
The CRS discount, Broward edition
Is your discount even the one you think it is?
On FEMA's April 2026 CRS roster, "Broward County" (community ID 125093) holds Class 6, worth 20% off NFIP premiums, a rating the county has built since joining the CRS in 1992. But that rating applies only to unincorporated Broward County. Broward is almost entirely incorporated: 31 municipalities administer their own floodplain programs, and every one of them carries its own CRS class and its own discount. If you live in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Miramar, or Weston, the county's 20% is not your number. Your number is set by your city, and it changes when your city's rating changes.
Community-rating details are easy to overlook, especially where city boundaries decide which CRS class applies. A policy rated under the wrong community, or written before a city's class improved, can quietly miss the discount entirely.
Confirm your CRS credit is applied → It costs nothing to check, and in this county the answer is different on every side of a city line.
Your flood zone and your evacuation plan
These are two different maps answering two different questions. Broward residents mix them up constantly, and the county's own materials warn against it.
One plain-English warning about Zone X: it means lower risk, never no risk. The April 2023 storm was a rain event. Rain does not read flood maps. A meaningful share of flood claims in any county comes from outside the high-risk zones, and X-zone policies are the cheapest ones written. If the 2024 map revision moved you out of the SFHA, that is an argument for a cheaper policy, not for going bare.
Zone definitions, map questions, or a formal map challenge: the county explains all three in its flood map FAQ, and (954) 519-1483 answers SFHA questions for unincorporated addresses. For the full statewide primer, see Florida flood zones explained.
Broward's flood history, in federal dollars
These are FEMA's own payment records for Broward County, not estimates, not modeling.
| Year | Event | NFIP claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | April Florida Flooding (the Fort Lauderdale rain event) | 3,394 | $245,864,856 |
| 2024 | June South Florida Flooding | 568 | $34,480,980 |
| 2017 | Hurricane Irma | 1,634 | $22,248,797 |
| 2020 | Hurricane Eta | 1,089 | $19,137,617 |
| 2022 | Tropical Storm Alex | 38 | $481,504 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP claims records, pulled July 2026.
Look at the shape of that table. The two hurricanes on it, Irma and Eta, together paid $41.4 million. The two unnamed rain events, April 2023 and June 2024, together paid $280.3 million, nearly seven times as much. Broward's flood problem is not primarily a storm-surge problem. It is water with nowhere to go, falling on a county of 1,977,129 people (US Census ACS 2024) where the median home is worth $414,600.
What changed after April 2023
Two things, and they compound each other. First, the claims baseline moved: a decade of Broward flood payments now reads $349 million, and 70% of it traces to one storm system that never earned a name. Second, fifteen months later the county's new flood maps took effect (July 31, 2024), redrawing zone lines with that event fresh in the data. New maps change lender requirements at purchase and refinance. If your last flood-insurance decision predates July 2024, it was made on a map that no longer exists. Notably, the county published no formal after-action report on the April 2023 flood, so the claims ledger above is the most honest public record of what it did.
What most people miss: the NFIP paid Broward claims in 2023 (a stalled rainstorm), 2024 (an unnamed June system), 2020, 2017, and 2022. That is five loss events in seven years, and the worst two had no hurricane name attached. The evacuation plans are built around surge from the Intracoastal and the coast, but the money has been flowing to rain damage across the whole county. Coverage decisions based on "I'm not near the beach" are answering the wrong question.
Emergency resources for Broward County
Save these before you need them. Each number is verified against the county's own pages.
- Broward Emergency Management Division / Emergency Hotline: 311 or (954) 831-4000. Evacuation orders, shelter openings, storm information. The EMD runs the county Emergency Operations Center; the Florida Division of Emergency Management coordinates the state response above it.
- Floodplain management (unincorporated Broward): (954) 519-1483. Flood zone determinations, elevation questions, SFHA checks for unincorporated addresses.
- Your city's floodplain administrator. In Broward, floodplain permitting is municipal. The county keeps a directory of all 31 city floodplain contacts. Examples: Fort Lauderdale (954) 828-6133, Hollywood (954) 921-3930, Pompano Beach (954) 786-5579.
- ShoutFlood licensed help line: (727) 516-0111. Coverage questions, quotes, and closing deadlines.
Shelters. Broward is one of the few Florida counties that publishes a standing shelter list year-round: 35 designated locations, opened as needed per storm. Among them: Arthur Ashe/Rock Island in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach High School, and three pet-friendly sites, Everglades High School (Miramar), Lyons Creek Middle School (Coconut Creek), and Falcon Cove Middle School (Weston). Up to three pet-friendly shelters may open for a given storm (carrier or crate plus proof of rabies vaccination required). Shelters open roughly 4 hours after an evacuation order; confirm actual openings at the county shelter page or by calling 311. Staying with family or friends outside the evacuation area is the county's own first recommendation.
If your home floods: the Broward playbook
- Report the claim immediately. Call your carrier or agent, or (727) 516-0111 if we placed your policy. NFIP claims have deadlines; starting the file the same week protects you.
- Document before you touch anything. Photograph and video every room, waterlines on walls, serial numbers on appliances. After April 2023, 3,394 Broward households went through this process at once; the well-documented files settled fastest.
- Mitigate further damage. Reasonable emergency measures (water extraction, tarping, moving contents up) are expected of you and are generally reimbursable. Keep every receipt.
- Call your city's floodplain administrator before you rebuild. This is the step Broward makes uniquely local. Each municipality enforces its own substantial-damage rule: if repairs plus improvements cross the threshold your city sets against your building's market value, the structure must be brought up to current flood-elevation code. The threshold, and how it is tracked over time, is your city's call, not the county's. Neighboring counties differ sharply on this (Pinellas uses a stricter 49% with a rolling 1-year window; Hillsborough uses 50% over 12 months), so do not assume a rule from a friend's experience elsewhere applies to your Broward address. Unincorporated: (954) 519-1483. Everyone else: the city directory.
- Stack the recovery money in order. NFIP claim first (building and contents). If your home is declared substantially damaged, Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage adds up to $30,000 toward elevation or demolition requirements. Florida's SHIP program (state housing assistance) and SBA disaster loans layer on top for eligible owners. A licensed agent can sequence these; the order matters.
Buying or closing on a home in Broward County? The NFIP's 30-day waiting period has exactly two exceptions that matter: coverage bought in connection with a loan closing is effective at closing, and coverage bought in connection with an existing loan (your lender requires it mid-term) also skips the wait. Everyone else waits the full 30 days. And with Broward's flood maps redrawn effective July 31, 2024, lenders are re-running zone determinations at purchase and refinance, so the week you go under contract on a Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, or Miramar address is the week to act. Details at fast closings and flood insurance.
Broward County, city by city
Floodplain administration, CRS discounts, and substantial-damage rules all live at the city level here, which makes city-specific pages genuinely different from this one. City guides are rolling out; links activate as each goes live.
Fort Lauderdale · Hollywood · Pompano Beach · Miramar · Pembroke Pines · Coral Springs · Coconut Creek · Weston · Davie · Plantation · Tamarac · Margate · Parkland · Lauderdale Lakes · Hallandale Beach · Pembroke Park
All 31 Broward municipalities are covered by the county directory above, including the smaller communities the shelter and floodplain lists reference.
Keep reading: Florida flood insurance hub · Miami-Dade County (the other municipal-CRS market) · Pinellas County · Hillsborough County · NFIP vs. private coverage
Broward County flood insurance FAQ
How much is flood insurance in Broward County? The county's average NFIP premium is $577 a year across 212,438 policies, the lowest average among Florida's big four flood markets. Your quote depends on zone (AE/AH/AO/VE vs. X), elevation, building age relative to the 1972 first flood map, and your city's CRS discount. Get a real number for your address.
Do I need flood insurance if I'm not in a flood zone? Everyone in Broward is in a flood zone; X is a zone. The mandatory-purchase rule only applies in the SFHA, but the April 2023 rain event that generated $245.9 million in county claims did not check zone boundaries. X-zone policies are the cheapest coverage written; going without one is a bet, not a default.
Did the 2024 flood maps change my zone? Possibly. Broward's current FIRMs took effect July 31, 2024, and map revisions move addresses in and out of the SFHA. If you were mapped in, your lender will eventually require coverage. If you were mapped out, you may qualify for cheaper rating, but see the previous question before dropping coverage. Check your address against the current map.
What CRS discount do I get in Broward? Depends entirely on where you live. Unincorporated Broward County is CRS Class 6 (20% off) on FEMA's April 2026 roster. Each of the 31 municipalities carries its own class, so a Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, or Weston address is rated under its city's number, not the county's. Have an agent verify which community your policy is rated under; a mismatch silently costs you the discount.
Is there a waiting period for flood insurance? 30 days, with two exceptions: policies bought in connection with a loan closing start at closing, and policies bought because an existing lender requires coverage also skip the wait. No exception for "there's a storm coming."
Who decides the 50% substantial-damage rule in Broward? Your city. Floodplain administration here is municipal, and each city sets and tracks its own substantial-damage threshold. Before repairing serious damage, call your city's floodplain administrator (directory) or (954) 519-1483 for unincorporated addresses. Do not rebuild first and ask second; the rule applies retroactively to un-permitted work.
What has flood insurance actually paid in Broward? $349,118,573 across 8,483 claims in the last decade, and 35,037 claims since 1978. The single largest driver: the April 2023 rain event, $245,864,856 across 3,394 claims.
Was Hurricane Irma worse here than the 2023 flood? Not by claims paid. Irma (2017) paid $22.2 million in Broward; the April 2023 no-name rain paid $245.9 million, more than ten times as much. Hurricane Eta (2020) paid $19.1 million. Broward's costliest flooding has come from rain, not landfalling hurricanes.
I live in a condo. Does the association's policy cover me? Condo associations often carry a master flood policy covering the building (one policy can cover many units, which is part of why Broward counts 212,438 policies across 127,268 policy records). The master policy typically does not cover your contents, your unit's improvements, or your loss-of-use costs. An individual unit-owner policy fills that gap; it is one of the cheapest flood policies sold.
Where do I evacuate, and where are the shelters? Check whether you are in Plan A (Cat 1-2: mobile homes, tidal and low-lying areas, east of the Intracoastal) or Plan B (Cat 3+: adds everyone east of US 1) at the county evacuation page. The county's standing list of 35 shelters, including the pet-friendly sites in Miramar, Coconut Creek, and Weston, is published year-round; call 311 for what is actually open.
How many people in Broward actually have flood insurance? About 212,438 policies against 753,956 households: roughly 28%. Seven in ten Broward households would absorb an April-2023-style event uninsured. That is the single most important number on this page.
Can I just get a quote without a sales pitch? Yes. Quote request here, or call (727) 516-0111. Licensed Florida agents, real numbers, and if your current policy already has the right CRS credit applied, we will tell you so.
Check your address before the next no-name storm does
The April 2023 flood gave Broward County a $245.9 million lesson: the water does not wait for a hurricane name, and 72% of households were uninsured for it. Your flood zone, your city's discount, and the 2024 map change are all checkable in minutes.
Compare my flood options · Check my address · Or talk to a licensed agent: (727) 516-0111
Last verified July 14, 2026. Flood data: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP claims and policy records; demographics: US Census ACS 2024; maps and emergency information: Broward County official pages, fetch-verified on the date above.
Page data last verified 2026-07-14. Every figure links to the federal or county record it came from.