Dry Streets Index: flood zones and street elevation
For each building on Own.Miami we read its FEMA flood zone, its hurricane evacuation zone and the elevation of the lowest street next to it, then compare that street with the highest tide NOAA predicts this year. An Own.Miami estimate from public data.
Highest predicted tide in 2026 at Virginia Key: 1.0 ft NAVD88, on Oct 27, 2026.
803 buildings measured. 611 are in a FEMA high-risk zone (A or V). 55 have a lowest nearby street less than 1 ft above this year’s highest predicted tide.
King tides
King tide window under way: Oct 24, 2026 to Oct 30, 2026. Highest predicted tide: 0.96 ft NAVD88 on Oct 27, 2026 at 10:31 AM.
At that peak, 55 of 784 measured buildings have a lowest nearby street less than 1 ft above the predicted tide, 1 of them below it.
Later windows: Nov 6, 2026 to Nov 9, 2026 (0.77 ft); Nov 24, 2026 to Nov 26, 2026 (0.78 ft).
Buildings whose lowest nearby street sits less than 1 ft above the predicted peak of this window, by neighborhood. Neighborhoods with none are left out.
| Neighborhood | Buildings measured | Street below the peak | Street 0 to 1 ft above | Under 1 ft, total | Median street above the peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Beach | 140 | 0 | 31 | 31 | 1.7 ft |
| Mid-Beach & North Beach | 97 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 2.7 ft |
| Brickell | 85 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4.0 ft |
| Edgewater | 43 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.5 ft |
| Aventura | 83 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3.2 ft |
| Bal Harbour & Surfside | 87 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.9 ft |
| Downtown | 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5.5 ft |
| Coconut Grove | 51 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.9 ft |
Predicted tide, NOAA station 8723214 Virginia Key; street elevation USGS 3DEP; not a flood forecast; rain, wind and storm surge add to it. A king tide day here is a day whose highest predicted high tide at Virginia Key reaches 0.70 ft NAVD88; consecutive days form one window. Predictions read Oct 23, 2026.
By neighborhood
Sorted by the median height of the lowest nearby street above the year’s highest predicted tide, lowest first.
| Neighborhood | Buildings | FEMA A or V | FEMA moderate | FEMA minimal | Evac zone A | Evac zone B | Evac zones C to E | No evac zone | Median street above tide | Street under 1 ft above tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edgewater | 43 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 33 | 1 | 1.5 ft | 4 / 43 |
| South Beach | 141 | 141 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 141 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 ft | 31 / 140 |
| Bal Harbour & Surfside | 89 | 55 | 7 | 27 | 0 | 89 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 ft | 2 / 87 |
| Key Biscayne | 54 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 ft | 0 / 54 |
| Sunny Isles Beach | 85 | 49 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 77 | 6 | 0 | 2.5 ft | 0 / 82 |
| Mid-Beach & North Beach | 98 | 83 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 ft | 8 / 97 |
| Aventura | 89 | 87 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 48 | 0 | 3.2 ft | 2 / 83 |
| Brickell | 89 | 63 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 89 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 ft | 5 / 85 |
| Fisher Island | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 ft | 0 / 15 |
| Downtown | 31 | 17 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 5.5 ft | 2 / 31 |
| Coconut Grove | 53 | 12 | 5 | 36 | 14 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 8.9 ft | 1 / 51 |
| Midtown | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 11.1 ft | 0 / 16 |
How it is measured
- FEMA flood zone: the zone of FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at the building point (Miami-Dade’s copy of the same flood map when FEMA’s service is down).
- Evacuation zone: Miami-Dade County’s storm surge planning zone (A to E) at the building point.
- Lowest nearby street: up to 8 points on the county’s street centrelines within 60 m of the building (120 m when none is closer), at least 20 m apart, nearest first; expressways and ramps are left out. Each point’s bare-earth elevation comes from the USGS 3D Elevation Program. Readings under 0.5 ft are water surfaces and are dropped. The lowest point counts.
- Tide reference: the highest high tide NOAA predicts this calendar year at Virginia Key (station 8723214), in the same NAVD88 datum. The margin is the street minus that tide.
What it does not tell you
It is not a flood determination, an elevation certificate or insurance advice. Drains, seawalls, pumps and raised roads change how a street floods, real tides often run higher than predicted, and storms add surge on top. Check the FEMA flood map, the building’s elevation certificate and the county’s evacuation zone lookup.
Download the neighborhood table (CSV)
Estimated from public data, not a flood determination. Check the FEMA flood map and an elevation certificate for this building. Full methodology
Sources: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer, Miami-Dade County open data (evacuation zones, street centrelines), USGS 3D Elevation Program, NOAA Tides and Currents. Last read Oct 22, 2026.