Water Damage in Fort Lauderdale: the Numbers
25 facts about rain, tides, flood claims and homes in Fort Lauderdale. Each sentence stands on its own and names its period and source, so you can quote any one of them. Numbers we worked out from public data say "calculated"; the method is on the sources page.
Updated
- 1
Fort Lauderdale's National Weather Service climate record has daily readings from November 1, 1912 to November 11, 2026, with rain data in 115 calendar years.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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The wettest day in Fort Lauderdale's climate record since 1912 was April 12, 2023, with 22.50 in. of rain.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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The second-wettest day in Fort Lauderdale's climate record since 1912 was April 25, 1979, with 14.59 in.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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Fort Lauderdale's climate record has 408 days from 1912 to 2026 with 2.39 in. of rain or more, the wettest 1% of all days with a reading.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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92 of Fort Lauderdale's days with 2.39 in. of rain or more since 1912 came on or after January 1, 2000.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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Fort Lauderdale's climate record has 63 days with 5 inches of rain or more between 1912 and 2026.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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September 2026 brought 22.34 in. of rain to Fort Lauderdale's climate record, the wettest September since 1912; the next-wettest was 1998, with 18.40 in.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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April 2023 brought 31.22 in. of rain to Fort Lauderdale's climate record, the wettest April since 1912.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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The wettest single month in Fort Lauderdale's climate record since 1912 is October 1924, with 32.10 in. of rain.
Source: ACIS daily record, Fort Lauderdale Area (NWS climate site), calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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June is Fort Lauderdale's wettest month by the 1991-2020 normals, at 9.55 in.
Source: NCEI 1991-2020 normals via ACIS, Fort Lauderdale Area.
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May through October bring 43.80 in. of Fort Lauderdale's normal yearly rainfall of 60.95 in., based on 1991-2020 normals.
Source: NCEI 1991-2020 normals via ACIS, Fort Lauderdale Area, calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport recorded 113.61 inches of rain in 2023 through December 29, breaking the annual record of 102.36 inches set in 1947, according to NWS Miami.
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The April 12, 2023 flash flood in Fort Lauderdale caused at least $28 million in damage and displaced residents of entire neighborhoods for as much as a week, according to NWS Miami.
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Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport averaged 78.6°F in 2023, 1.4°F above normal and the second-warmest year on its record, according to NWS Miami.
- 15
The coldest reading on NWS Miami's 1912 to 2025 records sheet for Fort Lauderdale is 28°F.
Source: NWS Miami: Climatological Records for Fort Lauderdale, FL.
- 16
FEMA records 7,976 National Flood Insurance Program claims in Fort Lauderdale's ten residential ZIP codes as of November 12, 2026, with $242,706,124 paid on building and contents.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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Fort Lauderdale's ten residential ZIP codes have 2,525 NFIP flood claims with a 2023 year of loss, with $186,523,783 paid on them, according to FEMA records.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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ZIP 33312 has the most NFIP flood claims of any Fort Lauderdale residential ZIP code, 1,800, according to FEMA records pulled November 12, 2026.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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ZIP 33315 has the largest NFIP flood payments of any Fort Lauderdale residential ZIP code, $82,037,414 in total, according to FEMA records pulled November 12, 2026.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
- 20
About 65% of housing units in Fort Lauderdale's ten residential ZIP codes were built before 1980, according to Census ACS 5-year 2020-2024 estimates.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2020-2024, tables B25034 and B25035, calculated by Lauderdale Flood Line on November 12, 2026.
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The City of Fort Lauderdale's king tide page lists at least 40 predicted king tide days in 2026, with its highest tides typically in September, October and November.
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The City of Fort Lauderdale maintains about 200 tidal valves that keep tide water from backing up into streets and inspects them every quarter.
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The City of Fort Lauderdale requires new seawalls to be built to an elevation of at least 5 feet.
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In Fort Lauderdale, the city's water property stops at the meter; pipe from the meter to the house is the homeowner's responsibility.
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The City of Fort Lauderdale notes a 30-day waiting period before new National Flood Insurance Program coverage takes effect.
Source: City of Fort Lauderdale: Floods and Flood Insurance.