Miami-Dade County
Hialeah sits on flat, low ground with a high water table, and most of its homes and apartments are more than 40 years old. Heavy rain, tired plumbing and leaks that cross between units are the usual starting points.
ZIP codes in the area
Some of these ZIP codes also include neighboring communities.
Hialeah covers about 20 square miles of northwest Miami-Dade, served by roads most residents know by heart: the Palmetto Expressway, Okeechobee Road and I-75. The city calls itself flat and low-lying, and that shapes a lot of the water damage here. When the ground is already saturated in late summer, a heavy afternoon storm has very little room to drain.
The median home in Hialeah was built in the mid-1970s. Plenty of those houses and apartment buildings have been updated over the years, but updates tend to happen one fixture at a time. A new kitchen can sit next to an original shutoff valve, and a replaced water heater can still drain into an old pan or line. Those mismatched parts are where slow leaks under sinks, behind toilets and in utility closets often begin.
Just over half of Hialeah households rent, and many live in mid-size and larger apartment buildings. In that setting, water damage is rarely one person’s problem. A failed supply line upstairs can show up as a stained ceiling, a soaked closet or swollen baseboards next door or below. Moisture meters help show how far the water went inside shared walls and floors, which matters when more than one unit needs drying.
The City of Hialeah names several flood sources: heavy rainfall from tropical systems, the canals and lakes that run through the area, groundwater that stays high in the rainy season, and neighborhood drainage that backs up when it is overwhelmed. Hurricane Irene in 1999 and the storm of October 2000 both flooded large parts of the city.
Water that comes in from outside brings soil and whatever it picked up from the street. That changes the cleanup. Carpet and pad that sat in it are usually discarded, drywall is often cut above the waterline, and cleaning comes before drying. See flood cleanup for how that work usually runs.
The ZIP codes on this page stretch past Hialeah itself. Much of 33014 and 33016 falls in Miami Lakes, 33018 takes in part of Hialeah Gardens and land farther west, and 33015 is mostly the unincorporated Country Club area. Housing in Hialeah Gardens and Miami Lakes is generally newer, with median build years around 1990, and the same 24/7 line serves all of them.
If water is on the floor right now, start with the emergency water removal steps, then call.
The City of Hialeah describes groundwater sitting just below the surface and rising in the rainy season. During intense storms, canals and neighborhood drainage can back up, leaving water nowhere to go but yards, garages and ground floors.
About 60 percent of Hialeah's housing units were built before 1980, according to Census estimates. Supply lines, shutoff valves, water heaters and drain lines in homes that age are common sources of slow leaks and sudden failures.
Roughly a quarter of the city's homes are in buildings with 20 or more units. A leak from an upstairs kitchen, bathroom or AC closet can wet ceilings and walls in the apartment below before anyone upstairs notices.
Hurricane Irene in 1999 and the October 2000 no-name storm both caused widespread flooding in Hialeah. Slow-moving tropical systems can drop many inches of rain in a day, which is when street and yard water finds its way inside.
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FAQ
Yes. ZIP codes 33014, 33016 and 33018 reach into Hialeah Gardens and Miami Lakes, and 33015 covers much of Country Club and Palm Springs North. The 24/7 line serves all of the ZIP codes listed on this page.
Yes. Water that enters from outside is treated as contaminated because it has run across streets, yards and storm drains. Porous materials it soaked, such as carpet, pad and the bottom of drywall, are usually removed rather than dried in place.
Stop the water if you can, then tell the landlord or property manager right away, especially if the water may be reaching a neighbor's unit. The building owner usually arranges restoration for the structure, but photographing your own belongings and the damage early helps either way.
In a low-lying area with a high water table, heavy rain can saturate the ground and overwhelm drainage, so water pushes in at door thresholds, slab edges and gaps around pipes. Once it is inside, the wet flooring and walls need to be dried and checked for moisture the same way as any other water damage.
Call now
Shut off the water if you can reach the valve safely, then call. Describe where it came from and which rooms are wet.
When you call, have ready