Flood barriers and panels in Fort Lauderdale

Who this is for

Owners whose doors or garage sit close to the water level at king tides or in storm surge.

Fort Lauderdale's flood insurance class

Fort Lauderdale is a Class 7 community in FEMA's Community Rating System: a 15% flood premium reduction in Special Flood Hazard Areas (zones AE, AO, AH and VE) and 10% in Zone X. The City's list includes coastal VE zones, where FEMA does not allow floodproofing below the base flood elevation at all.

Barriers are sized to the flood level for your zone, and residential homes cannot rely on dry floodproofing below the base flood elevation.[1][2]

River tide and inlet tide

NOAA's South Port Everglades gauge shows a 2.79 ft great diurnal range, while the Andrews Avenue bridge gauge up the New River shows 2.28 ft, with mean higher high water about 0.45 to 0.57 ft above NAVD 88 (1983 to 2001 epoch). Lifts and floating docks near the inlet need more travel than those up the river.

King tides show how often barriers will need to go up.[3][4]

King tides and street flooding

The City tells owners to inspect and maintain their seawalls, says walls overtopped by king tides should be raised to the 5 ft standard, and can cite owners whose walls let tidal water reach the street. A low spot or a leaking joint is a code issue here, not only a maintenance one.

Barriers protect openings; the seawall still has to stop tidal water at the edge.[5][6]

What makes Fort Lauderdale different

The City treats seawalls as tidal barriers. It presumes a wall is in disrepair if it lets upland soil erode, lets material pass through it, or lets tidal water flow unimpeded onto neighbours or the street, and gives owners 60 days to show progress and 365 days to finish. The City also spends $1.5 million a year on its own seawalls.[6][5]

The county layer

Broward County requires a license before any work in, on, over or under its waters, including repairing or replacing a dock or seawall. Broward's regional policy is a consistent top elevation of 5 ft NAVD for seawalls, banks and berms.[7][6]

Permits in Fort Lauderdale

• Broward County environmental licensing: A county license before any work in, on, over or under Broward County waters, including dock and seawall repair.
• City of Fort Lauderdale: Building permits; waivers of the dock and lift projection limit go to the City Commission with a Marine Advisory Board recommendation.
• Florida DEP or South Florida Water Management District: State permit or exemption for docks and walls on the New River and the Intracoastal, on top of the Broward County license.
• US Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District: Federal authorisation for work in the Intracoastal Waterway and other navigable waters.

What we fit

• Removable aluminium panels in side tracks
• Barriers for garage openings
• Seals and storage racks
• A deployment plan so you can put them up quickly

What barriers can and cannot do

Barriers protect openings. They do not stop water rising through the ground, which Miami Beach notes comes up through porous limestone, and they do not replace elevation or flood vents under the NFIP.[9][2]

Frequently asked questions