In Florida, it's really difficult to find out if your house or apartment has flooded before

WLRN Public Media | By Alex Harris

Published June 20, 2022 at 11:17 PM EDT

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Alba Nubia Flores, who lives on Southwest Third Street, stands in the living room of her flooded rental home in the neighborhood of Little Havana in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, June 4, 2022.

As an unnamed storm drenched Miami-Dade earlier this month, some people were shocked to find themselves suddenly sloshing through floodwaters creeping into homes or apartments.

Should they have been warned about flood risks? Had it happened there before?

Finding the answer to the flood history of real estate in Florida is more difficult than in most other states. Government agencies don’t track flooding at the neighborhood and street level — at least in ways easily accessible to the public — and there’s no law requiring home sellers or landlords to tell new residents about damage from past floods.