The St. Johns River at Cocoa Heads for Major Flood Stage (November 6, 2026)

The River on Friday Morning

The rain ended days ago. The St. Johns River is still rising. On Friday morning, November 6, 2026, the US Geological Survey gauge on the St. Johns River near Cocoa, Florida (gauge 02232400), read 16.90 feet, with the river flowing at 6,350 cubic feet per second and up about 6 percent over the past 24 hours.

Flood stage near Cocoa is 16.0 feet. Bankfull stage is 15.8 feet. At 7:15 p.m. on Thursday the river already stood at 16.9 feet, in moderate flooding.
Major flooding is forecast. The National Weather Service in Melbourne's flood warning, updated Thursday evening, November 5, forecasts the river to rise into major flood stage late this week and remain there through the weekend and into early next week, with a crest of about 17.1 feet expected late this weekend into early next week.
At 17.2 feet, the weather service's own impact statement says water enters homes along the St. Johns River in the Lake Poinsett area west of Cocoa, and into low-lying homes in the Silver Pines subdivision in Rockledge and the Shakespeare Park area of Cocoa. The Providence Road area west of Cocoa becomes impassable at that level.
This is Brevard County's record rain, arriving on a delay. The 1-in-1,000-year rain of November 1–2 — up to 24 inches near Malabar, a record 11.04 inches in a day at Melbourne — drains north down the St. Johns, a river that drops only about 30 feet over roughly 300 miles. It moves slowly, and it floods slowly.

The Second River: The Peace, at Arcadia

The St. Johns is not Florida's only late flood this week. On Thursday evening, November 5, NOAA's National Water Prediction Service showed the Peace River at Arcadia at 16.43 feet — in major flooding, past its 16.0-foot major flood stage, and matching the National Weather Service Tampa Bay forecast crest of 16.4 feet.

Two rivers, one pattern: rain that fell on Sunday and Monday is cresting in Florida's slow, flat rivers on Thursday, Friday, and into next week.
Fourteen counties sit under the governor's expanded state of emergency, widened on November 4 as the river flooding spread beyond the original seven.
Flood warnings also cover the St. Johns above Lake Harney near Geneva, and near Sanford and DeLand, where rises into minor and moderate flooding are forecast into early next week.

For homeowners along the St. Johns in Brevard and Seminole Counties, this is the rare flood that arrives on a published schedule. The work that matters — belongings up, documents and photographs ready, sandbags at the low doors — can still be done in daylight, before the water arrives.

What Cocoa and Rockledge Homeowners Do Today

1. Read your street against the gauge, not the sky. Blue skies over Cocoa today say nothing about the river. The gauge near Cocoa, and the 17.2-foot impact level for Lake Poinsett, Silver Pines, and Shakespeare Park, are the numbers that matter.

2. Never drive through river water. The flood warning is in effect until further notice, and roads west of Cocoa are the first to become impassable as the river rises.

3. Photograph before the water, not after. If your home is in the river's path, a dated photo record of every room today is the strongest claim document you will own next week.

4. Line up the cleanup before you need it. The Cocoa, Florida page carries the local provider directory for this stretch of the river, starting with Coastline Restoration in Cocoa, which holds this event's story on its listing page. What river-water cleanup costs is broken down in today's cost guide.

Sources for this article: US Geological Survey gauge 02232400, St. Johns River near Cocoa, as reported November 6, 2026; National Weather Service Melbourne flood warning for the St. Johns River near Cocoa, updated November 5, 2026 (stage, flood stage, and the 17.2-foot impact statement); NOAA National Water Prediction Service and National Weather Service Tampa Bay for the Peace River at Arcadia, November 5, 2026; Florida Executive Orders 26-227 and 26-228. River stages are preliminary gauge readings and forecasts change; the weather service's current warning is the controlling word.

Questions, Answered Straight

How high is the St. Johns River near Cocoa right now?

On the morning of Friday, November 6, 2026, the US Geological Survey gauge near Cocoa read 16.90 feet, above the 16.0-foot flood stage, with the National Weather Service forecasting a rise into major flood stage and a crest of about 17.1 feet late this weekend into early next week.

What happens at 17.2 feet on the St. Johns River near Cocoa?

According to the National Weather Service impact statement, at 17.2 feet water enters homes along the St. Johns River in the Lake Poinsett area west of Cocoa, and low-lying homes in the Silver Pines subdivision in Rockledge and the Shakespeare Park area of Cocoa, and the Providence Road area west of Cocoa becomes impassable.

Why is the river flooding days after the rain stopped?

The St. Johns River flows north and drops only about 30 feet over roughly 300 miles, so water from Brevard County's record November 1-2 rainfall drains through it very slowly. Forecasters expect the flooding to last into next week, and minor to moderate flooding on parts of the river to persist longer.

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The St. Johns River at Cocoa Heads for Major Flood Stage

The River on Friday Morning

The Second River: The Peace, at Arcadia

What Cocoa and Rockledge Homeowners Do Today

Questions, Answered Straight

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