States › Florida › Gulf County

Gulf 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 12045 · 14,363 residents (2021) · 553 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 26Tornado · 28Flood · 27Wind · 79Winter · 0

Gulf 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.

Gulf County, Florida, has 199 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 36.0 events per 100 square miles, below the Florida figure of 73.8, and 138.6 per 10,000 residents against 18.2 statewide.

4 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 2 deaths and 3 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $169M.

FEMA has designated the county in 47 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Helene (major disaster, 28 Sep 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 1,717 claims since 1978, of which 1,527 were paid, totalling $95M (about $62K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1,610 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($17M a year across 18 hazards).

100 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 22 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

4events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

199events since 19502 deaths, 3 injuries recorded

47disaster declarationslast 28 Sep 2024

1,717NFIP flood claims$95M paid

Compared with Florida and the United States

Measure	Gulf County	Florida	US
Recorded events since 1950	199	39,578	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	36.0	73.8	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	138.6	18.2	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	4	1,307	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	2	890	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$169M	$80B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	119.5	20.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$62K	$62K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	62.4	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

Tornado: 2

Tornado: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 1Tornado: 5Wind: 1

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Wind: 5

Hail: 4Tornado: 9Flood: 1Wind: 11Tropical: 3Wildfire: 2

Hail: 4Tornado: 6Flood: 6Wind: 11Tropical: 25Wildfire: 3Other: 1

Hail: 6Tornado: 2Flood: 3Wind: 19Lightning: 1Other: 3

Hail: 10Flood: 17Wind: 29Lightning: 1

21950s51960s71970s81980s301990s562000s342010s572020s

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

Trend: 106 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 73 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

Wind79

Tornado28

Tropical28

Flood27

Hail26

Wildfire5

Other4

Lightning2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	79	—	0.5%	detail
■ Tornado	28	—	0.7%	detail
■ Tropical	28	—	1.2%
■ Flood	27	—	0.8%	detail
■ Hail	26	—	0.5%	detail
■ Wildfire	5	—	1.0%
■ Other	4	—	0.1%
■ Lightning	2	2	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
25 Jul 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
14 Jun 2025	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
10 Mar 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$105M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
15 Sep 2004	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$30M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
24 Jan 1993	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$50K	—	—	2	County
27 Oct 1972	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
9 Jul 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$9.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Jul 2005	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$8.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Apr 2005	Flood	Flood	—	$5.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
15 Sep 2004	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$3.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
28 Sep 1998	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
25 Sep 2002	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
25 Sep 2002	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
2 Sep 1998	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
20 Jul 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$300K	—	—	—	County
28 Aug 2005	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$300K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
28 Aug 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$300K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
24 Dec 1978	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
16 Feb 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$250K	—	—	—	County
25 Apr 2003	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$250K	—	—	—	County

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
28 Sep 2024	DR-4828	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
24 Sep 2024	EM-3615	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Helene	Public assistance
10 Aug 2024	DR-4806	Major disaster	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Debby	Public assistance
3 Aug 2024	EM-3605	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	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
16 Aug 2021	EM-3562	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Fred	Public assistance
23 Sep 2020	DR-4564	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	Public assistance
15 Sep 2020	EM-3546	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	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
11 Oct 2018	DR-4399	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Michael	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Oct 2018	EM-3405	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Michael	Public assistance
10 Sep 2017	DR-4337	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
5 Sep 2017	EM-3385	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
18 Oct 2012	DR-4084	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isaac	Public assistance
3 Jul 2012	DR-4068	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	Public assistance
21 Apr 2009	DR-1831	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
27 Oct 2008	DR-1806	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
24 Aug 2008	DR-1785	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Fay	Public assistance
21 Aug 2008	EM-3288	Emergency	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Fay	Public assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3220	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
28 Aug 2005	DR-1602	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina	Public assistance
10 Jul 2005	DR-1595	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dennis	Individual assistance, Public assistance
16 Sep 2004	DR-1551	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Sep 2004	DR-1545	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Frances	Public assistance
13 Aug 2004	DR-1539	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Bonnie And Hurricane Charley	Public assistance
3 Oct 2000	DR-1344	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Helene	Public assistance
27 Apr 1999	EM-3139	Emergency	Fire	Fl-Fires 04/15/99	Public assistance
17 Apr 1999	FM-2255	Fire management assistance	Fire	Fl-Fires 04/13/99	Public assistance
28 Sep 1998	DR-1249	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Georges	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Sep 1998	EM-3131	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Grorges	Public assistance
4 Sep 1998	DR-1241	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Earl	Individual 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
4 Oct 1995	DR-1069	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Opal	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Jul 1994	DR-1035	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding (Tropical Storm Alberto)	Individual assistance, Public assistance
8 Jul 1994	EM-3114	Emergency	Flood	Tropical Storm Alberto	Public assistance
13 Mar 1993	DR-982	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes, Flooding, High Winds & Tides, Freezing	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Apr 1990	DR-862	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance
3 Dec 1985	DR-756	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Kate	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Sep 1975	DR-484	Major disaster	Flood	High Winds, Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
22 Aug 1975	DR-479	Major disaster	Flood	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 Gulf County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781,717

Paid claims1,527

Total paid$95M

Average paid claim$62K

Repetitive-loss properties7310 severe

Residential policies in force1,61019.4% of 8,319 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2024	10	7	$265,285	$37,898
2023	1	1	$50,118	$50,118
2021	3	2	$33,351	$16,675
2020	15	9	$74,229	$8,248
2019	1	0	$0	—
2018	971	913	$82,542,182	$90,408
2017	3	3	$62,521	$20,840
2016	6	4	$14,275	$3,569
2015	5	5	$106,303	$21,261
2009	7	6	$101,028	$16,838
2008	4	3	$367,117	$122,372
2005	142	119	$1,996,894	$16,781
2004	14	7	$963,115	$137,588
2003	2	0	$0	—
2002	3	1	$29,133	$29,133
2001	4	3	$30,821	$10,274
2000	1	0	$0	—
1999	3	2	$7,224	$3,612
1998	111	93	$1,357,796	$14,600
1997	2	1	$5,017	$5,017
1996	2	1	$37,584	$37,584
1995	253	214	$4,849,713	$22,662
1994	36	35	$495,071	$14,145
1993	9	5	$146,501	$29,300
1991	1	1	$2,244	$2,244

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 riskRelatively Lowscore 59.5 of 100

Expected annual loss$17MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Relatively High	$12,279,720
Inland flooding	Very Low	$2,440,764
Tornado	Relatively Low	$650,342
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$516,792
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$501,097
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$456,699
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$201,721
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$180,957
Strong wind	Very Low	$70,591
Earthquake	Very Low	$22,575
Hail	Very Low	$5,327
Winter weather	Very Low	$3,953
Drought	Very Low	$89
Landslide	Very Low	$34

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 miles100

Tracks within 50 miles48

Hurricane strength within 50 miles22

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Debby	2024	98 mi	81 mph
Helene	2024	95 mi	138 mph
Idalia	2023	88 mi	132 mph
Nicole	2022	78 mi	40 mph
Fred	2021	13 mi	63 mph
Mindy	2021	15 mi	58 mph
Nestor	2019	25 mi	46 mph
Alberto	2018	38 mi	63 mph
Michael	2018	17 mi	161 mph
Colin	2016	66 mi	52 mph
Hermine	2016	66 mi	81 mph
Debby	2012	59 mi	52 mph
Claudette	2009	32 mi	58 mph
Fay	2008	11 mi	52 mph
Alberto	2006	75 mi	63 mph
Dennis	2005	98 mi	127 mph
Bonnie	2004	21 mi	52 mph
Frances	2004	78 mi	58 mph
Barry	2001	67 mi	69 mph
Helene	2000	91 mi	40 mph
Earl	1998	31 mi	92 mph
Josephine	1996	60 mi	69 mph
Allison	1995	39 mi	69 mph
Erin	1995	46 mi	98 mph
Alberto	1994	82 mi	63 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

32456 2,300
32465 142

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 Gulf County, FL?

NCEI records 26 hail events in Gulf County since 1950, in 14 different years; that is about 0.3 recorded events a year. 4 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Gulf County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 28 tornadoes in Gulf County since 1950, 3 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Gulf County?

28 Sep 2024: Hurricane Helene, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 47 declarations since 1953.

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

1,717 NFIP claims since 1978, 1,527 of them paid, for $95M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Gulf County compare with the rest of Florida?

36.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 73.8 statewide, and 119.5 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.