States › Florida › Baker County

Baker County, Florida

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 12003 · 28,715 residents (2021) · 585 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 39Tornado · 12Flood · 19Wind · 148Winter · 3

Baker County within Florida. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 309 events for Baker County, Florida, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 52.8 events per 100 square miles, below the Florida figure of 73.8, and 107.6 per 10,000 residents against 18.2 statewide.

20 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 2 deaths and 9 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $3.8M and crop damage at $600K.

FEMA has designated the county in 39 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Milton (major disaster, 11 Oct 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 95 claims since 1978, of which 83 were paid, totalling $2.9M (about $35K per paid claim). FEMA counts 146 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($6.3M a year across 18 hazards).

116 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 4 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

20events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

309events since 19502 deaths, 9 injuries recorded

39disaster declarationslast 11 Oct 2024

95NFIP flood claims$2.9M paid

Compared with Florida and the United States

Measure	Baker County	Florida	US
Recorded events since 1950	309	39,578	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	52.8	73.8	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	107.6	18.2	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	20	1,307	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	2	890	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$3.8M	$80B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	3.3	20.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$35K	$62K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	17.1	18.3	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 1Wind: 2

Tornado: 4Wind: 3

Hail: 4Tornado: 1Wind: 4

Hail: 8Tornado: 2Flood: 4Wind: 22Wildfire: 4Lightning: 1

Hail: 18Tornado: 3Flood: 4Wind: 37Tropical: 4Wildfire: 3Lightning: 1Other: 6

Hail: 7Tornado: 1Flood: 3Wind: 47Winter: 2Tropical: 3Wildfire: 7Lightning: 1Other: 14

Hail: 1Tornado: 1Flood: 8Wind: 33Winter: 1Tropical: 5Heat: 1Drought: 9Wildfire: 8Lightning: 1Fog: 1Other: 19

01950s31960s71970s91980s411990s762000s852010s882020s

Recorded events in Baker County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 189 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 92 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind148

Hail39

Other39

Wildfire22

Flood19

Tornado12

Tropical12

Drought9

Lightning4

Winter3

Heat1

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	148	—	1.0%	detail
■ Hail	39	—	0.7%	detail
■ Other	39	—	1.3%
■ Wildfire	22	1	4.5%
■ Flood	19	—	0.6%	detail
■ Tornado	12	—	0.3%	detail
■ Tropical	12	—	0.5%
■ Drought	9	—	0.6%
■ Lightning	4	—	0.2%
■ Winter	3	—	1.9%
■ Heat	1	1	0.3%
■ Fog	1	—	0.1%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
19 Jul 2023	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
23 Apr 2026	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
13 Apr 2015	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	2	County
5 Mar 2026	Dense Fog	Fog	—	—	—	—	2	Forecast zone
12 May 1974	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
31 Jul 1999	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
7 Mar 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	—	—	—	1	County
13 Jun 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	52 mph	—	—	—	1	County
6 May 2022	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
1 Mar 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$2.2M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
7 Oct 1996	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$600K	—	—	—	County
25 Jun 2012	Flood	Flood	—	$500K	—	—	—	County
1 May 2026	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	—	$400K	—	—	Forecast zone
2 Apr 2026	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	—	$200K	—	—	Forecast zone

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
11 Oct 2024	DR-4834	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	Public assistance
7 Oct 2024	EM-3622	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	Public assistance
28 Sep 2024	DR-4828	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Aug 2024	DR-4806	Major disaster	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Debby	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Aug 2024	EM-3605	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	Public assistance
17 Jun 2024	DR-4794	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
31 Aug 2023	DR-4734	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Idalia	Public assistance
28 Aug 2023	EM-3596	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Idalia	Public assistance
13 Dec 2022	DR-4680	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Nicole	Public assistance
29 Sep 2022	DR-4673	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ian	Public assistance
24 Sep 2022	EM-3584	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Ian	Public assistance
4 Jul 2021	EM-3561	Emergency	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Elsa	Public assistance
25 Mar 2020	DR-4486	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3432	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
30 Aug 2019	EM-3419	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian	Public assistance
9 Oct 2018	EM-3405	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Michael	Public assistance
10 Sep 2017	DR-4337	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Sep 2017	EM-3385	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
6 Oct 2016	EM-3377	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Public assistance
28 Sep 2016	DR-4280	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Hermine	Public assistance
3 Jul 2012	DR-4068	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 May 2009	DR-1840	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
24 Aug 2008	DR-1785	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Fay	Individual assistance, Public assistance
21 Aug 2008	EM-3288	Emergency	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Fay	Public assistance
7 May 2007	FM-2689	Fire management assistance	Fire	Suwannee Fire Complex	Public assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3220	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
26 Sep 2004	DR-1561	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Jeanne	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Sep 2004	DR-1545	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Frances	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Aug 2004	DR-1539	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Bonnie And Hurricane Charley	Public assistance
5 Feb 2001	DR-1359	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freeze	Individual assistance
5 Jun 2000	FM-2306	Fire management assistance	Fire	Fl, Suwannee Fire Complex	Public assistance
27 Apr 1999	EM-3139	Emergency	Fire	Fl-Fires 04/15/99	Public assistance
20 Apr 1999	FM-2258	Fire management assistance	Fire	Fl-Fires 04/13/99	Public assistance
18 Jun 1998	DR-1223	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazard	Individual assistance, Public assistance
6 Jan 1998	DR-1195	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, High Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Oct 1996	DR-1141	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Josephine	Individual assistance
13 Mar 1993	DR-982	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes, Flooding, High Winds & Tides, Freezing	Individual assistance, Public assistance
8 Oct 1992	DR-966	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 May 1973	DR-387	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Baker County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197895

Paid claims83

Total paid$2.9M

Average paid claim$35K

Repetitive-loss properties183 severe

Residential policies in force1461.5% of 9,954 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2024	3	3	$179,506	$59,835
2023	1	0	$0	—
2017	21	18	$894,319	$49,684
2012	24	22	$937,761	$42,626
2008	9	8	$223,116	$27,889
2004	6	5	$246,585	$49,317
2003	6	6	$129,817	$21,636
1998	14	11	$127,045	$11,550
1996	6	5	$55,871	$11,174
1992	3	3	$103,043	$34,348
1984	1	1	$781	$781
1983	1	1	$5,961	$5,961

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 13.3 of 100

Expected annual loss$6.3MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$3,038,942
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$1,040,067
Tornado	Relatively Low	$625,872
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$586,608
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$328,493
Lightning	Relatively Low	$234,139
Cold wave	Very Low	$201,807
Earthquake	Very Low	$132,096
Strong wind	Very Low	$65,339
Hail	Very Low	$29,071
Winter weather	Very Low	$1,985
Drought	Very Low	$1,709
Landslide	Very Low	$4

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles116

Tracks within 50 miles32

Hurricane strength within 50 miles4

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Debby	2024	33 mi	81 mph
Helene	2024	78 mi	138 mph
Idalia	2023	75 mi	115 mph
Nicole	2022	88 mi	46 mph
Elsa	2021	65 mi	63 mph
Mindy	2021	96 mi	40 mph
Eta	2020	45 mi	52 mph
Irma	2017	55 mi	58 mph
Colin	2016	29 mi	52 mph
Hermine	2016	80 mi	69 mph
Julia	2016	38 mi	52 mph
Andrea	2013	55 mi	58 mph
Beryl	2012	37 mi	69 mph
Debby	2012	89 mi	40 mph
Fay	2008	50 mi	58 mph
Barry	2007	92 mi	40 mph
Alberto	2006	71 mi	46 mph
Tammy	2005	44 mi	52 mph
Charley	2004	91 mi	86 mph
Jeanne	2004	62 mi	52 mph
Edouard	2002	96 mi	40 mph
Kyle	2002	93 mi	40 mph
Gordon	2000	55 mi	63 mph
Josephine	1996	40 mi	69 mph
Allison	1995	93 mi	52 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

32063 55
32040 40

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Baker County, FL?

NCEI records 39 hail events in Baker County since 1950, in 21 different years; that is about 0.5 recorded events a year. 6 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Baker County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 12 tornadoes in Baker County since 1950, 2 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Baker County?

11 Oct 2024: Hurricane Milton, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 39 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Baker County, and how much was paid?

95 NFIP claims since 1978, 83 of them paid, for $2.9M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Baker County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Baker County compare with the rest of Florida?

52.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 73.8 statewide, and 3.3 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 20.6. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.