This article outlines a conceptual model for environmental justice (EJ) studies of flood risk in the Miami, Florida, and Houston, Texas. Pre-flood EJ studies have found that socially-advantaged people experience the highest residential exposure to flood risks. This conceptual model focuses on (1) the differential capacities of social groups to access protective resources for reducing flood threats, and (2) both flood hazards and water-based benefits. Application of this model in Miami reveals that environmental injustices materialize as socially-privileged groups expose themselves to residential flood risks by seeking coastal amenities; in the process, socially-vulnerable residents are relegated to areas with air pollution and/or inland flood risks, where they experience constrained access to protective resources. Findings from Houston better align with conventional EJ expectations, with flood zones being disproportionately inhabited by socially-vulnerable people. Results underscore the need to consider protective resources in future empirical research on the EJ implications of flood hazards.