Hurricane & Flood Risk Check for Miami

Miami takes it from several directions. Hurricanes and tropical storms bring rain bands, surge, and flash flooding, wind-driven rain finds tile and flat roofs, AC condensate lines clog and overflow year round, and in a high-rise a leak above you reaches your unit. Aging pre-1980 supply lines fail on their own, and low ground floods fast.

Know your flood zone and lowest entry point, keep yard and street drains clear, and keep sandbags or door barriers ready before hurricane season. Move valuables off the floor when a storm is named, and know your main shut-off. If water does get in, call right away, because standing water in Miami's heat and humidity turns to a mold problem fast.

Flush the drain line and check the overflow pan a few times a year, and add a float switch that shuts the unit off if the pan fills. An attic or ceiling air handler is the most common quiet leak in South Florida, so watch the ceiling below it for the first stain and call before it spreads.

If it is safe, shut the water off at the main, stay off the wet floor, keep clear of outlets and the panel, and call. If the water is a sewer backup, storm surge, or flood, do not touch it, it is Category 3 black water. The dispatcher talks you through the rest, in English or Spanish, while a crew is on the way.