States › Florida › Polk County

Polk 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 12105 · 753,520 residents (2021) · 1,798 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 256Tornado · 165Flood · 38Wind · 357Winter · 0

Polk 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.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 1,026 storm events in Polk County, Florida, led by damaging wind.

That is 57.1 events per 100 square miles, below the Florida figure of 73.8, and 13.6 per 10,000 residents against 18.2 statewide.

0 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 31 deaths and 663 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $1.3B and crop damage at $194M.

FEMA has designated the county in 42 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 1,671 claims since 1978, of which 1,083 were paid, totalling $46M (about $42K per paid claim). FEMA counts 7,144 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($213M a year across 18 hazards).

106 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 18 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

0events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,026events since 195031 deaths, 663 injuries recorded

42disaster declarationslast 11 Oct 2024

1,671NFIP flood claims$46M paid

Compared with Florida and the United States

Measure	Polk County	Florida	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,026	39,578	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	57.1	73.8	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	13.6	18.2	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	0	1,307	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	31	890	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$1.3B	$80B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.2	20.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$42K	$62K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	11.7	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: 10Wind: 5

Hail: 11Tornado: 13Wind: 10

Hail: 12Tornado: 22Wind: 25

Hail: 5Tornado: 31Wind: 35

Hail: 93Tornado: 49Flood: 20Wind: 142Tropical: 6Cold: 4Wildfire: 6Lightning: 20Fog: 38

Hail: 88Tornado: 23Flood: 17Wind: 74Tropical: 5Heat: 1Cold: 36Wildfire: 6Lightning: 15Fog: 16Other: 12

Hail: 35Tornado: 12Flood: 1Wind: 54Tropical: 8Cold: 11Wildfire: 3Lightning: 7Other: 7

Hail: 12Tornado: 5Wind: 12Tropical: 8Other: 1

151950s341960s591970s711980s3781990s2932000s1382010s382020s

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

Trend: 274 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 607 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

Wind357

Hail256

Tornado165

Fog54

Cold51

Lightning42

Flood38

Tropical27

Other20

Wildfire15

Heat1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	357	1	2.3%	detail
■ Hail	256	—	4.5%	detail
■ Tornado	165	9	4.3%	detail
■ Fog	54	7	7.2%
■ Cold	51	—	4.6%
■ Lightning	42	7	2.4%
■ Flood	38	—	1.1%	detail
■ Tropical	27	5	1.2%
■ Other	20	1	0.7%
■ Wildfire	15	—	3.1%
■ Heat	1	1	0.3%

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
4 Apr 1966	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$25M	—	8	450	County
9 Jan 2008	Dense Fog	Fog	—	—	—	5	38	Forecast zone
10 Sep 2017	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$69M	$94M	3	—	Forecast zone
28 Sep 2022	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$50M	—	2	—	Forecast zone
6 Jul 1998	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	2	—	County
13 Aug 2004	High Wind	Wind	78 mph	$674M	$75M	1	6	Forecast zone
8 May 1979	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25M	—	1	40	County
4 Jul 2009	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	26	County
24 Jun 2012	Heavy Rain	Other	—	—	—	1	4	County
21 Jun 1998	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	2	County
21 Jun 2003	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
6 Feb 2001	Dense Fog	Fog	—	$350K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
28 May 2001	Dense Fog	Fog	—	$300K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
23 Apr 1997	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
8 Oct 2009	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
7 Sep 2012	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
25 Sep 2004	High Wind	Wind	58 mph	$250M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
27 Dec 1997	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$6.0M	—	—	18	County
5 Sep 2004	High Wind	Wind	69 mph	$94M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
28 Jun 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$3K	—	—	9	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
11 Oct 2024	DR-4834	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Oct 2024	EM-3622	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	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
8 Nov 2022	EM-3587	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Nicole	Public assistance
29 Sep 2022	DR-4673	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ian	Individual assistance, Public assistance
24 Sep 2022	EM-3584	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Ian	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
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
22 Apr 2017	FM-5180	Fire management assistance	Fire	Indian Lake Estates Fire	Public assistance
6 Oct 2016	EM-3377	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Matthew	Public assistance
3 Jul 2012	DR-4068	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	Individual assistance
24 Aug 2008	DR-1785	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Fay	Individual assistance
21 Aug 2008	EM-3288	Emergency	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Fay	Public assistance
26 Mar 2007	FM-2684	Fire management assistance	Fire	53 Big Pine Fire	Public assistance
24 Oct 2005	DR-1609	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Wilma	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
16 Sep 2004	DR-1551	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Individual 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	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Mar 2001	FM-2353	Fire management assistance	Fire	Fl - Lakeland Complex Fire	Public assistance
5 Feb 2001	DR-1359	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freeze	Individual assistance
20 May 2000	FM-2300	Fire management assistance	Fire	Lakeland District Fire	Public assistance
20 Oct 1999	DR-1306	Major disaster	Hurricane	Fl-Hurricane Irene-Dr-Req	Individual assistance
15 Oct 1999	EM-3150	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Irene - Florida	Public assistance
27 Apr 1999	EM-3139	Emergency	Fire	Fl-Fires 04/15/99	Public assistance
21 Apr 1999	FM-2259	Fire management assistance	Fire	Fl-Fires 04/13/99	Public assistance
18 Jun 1998	DR-1223	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
6 Jan 1998	DR-1195	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, High Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 1993	DR-982	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes, Flooding, High Winds & Tides, Freezing	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Jan 1990	DR-851	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freeze	Individual assistance
18 Mar 1985	DR-732	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Freeze	Individual assistance
29 Mar 1984	DR-698	Major disaster	Freezing	Freezing Temperatures	Individual assistance
15 May 1979	DR-586	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
31 Jan 1977	DR-526	Major disaster	Freezing	Severe Winter Weather	Individual 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 Polk County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781,671

Paid claims1,083

Total paid$46M

Average paid claim$42K

Repetitive-loss properties1058 severe

Residential policies in force7,1442.6% of 272,548 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	4	1	$55,533	$55,533
2025	5	3	$55,038	$18,346
2024	396	338	$27,822,861	$82,316
2023	12	3	$51,541	$17,180
2022	146	71	$2,177,936	$30,675
2021	5	1	$6,140	$6,140
2020	11	4	$10,557	$2,639
2019	7	4	$28,852	$7,213
2018	1	1	$38,686	$38,686
2017	252	179	$7,221,114	$40,341
2016	17	4	$52,665	$13,166
2015	12	11	$152,155	$13,832
2014	10	2	$18,361	$9,180
2013	8	4	$32,790	$8,197
2012	11	3	$40,808	$13,603
2011	23	10	$425,448	$42,545
2010	9	2	$4,811	$2,405
2009	7	3	$8,601	$2,867
2008	10	5	$160,323	$32,065
2007	2	2	$6,296	$3,148
2006	4	3	$25,345	$8,448
2005	75	60	$1,926,130	$32,102
2004	418	224	$3,672,730	$16,396
2003	15	8	$97,077	$12,135
2002	30	23	$438,135	$19,049

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 Highscore 96.5 of 100

Expected annual loss$213MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Very High	$92,315,148
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$64,898,160
Strong wind	Very High	$24,544,878
Tornado	Relatively High	$9,387,539
Wildfire	Relatively Moderate	$6,708,227
Lightning	Very High	$6,388,985
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$4,288,931
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$2,622,393
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$595,907
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$533,395
Earthquake	Very Low	$281,424
Landslide	Relatively Low	$3,310

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 miles106

Tracks within 50 miles42

Hurricane strength within 50 miles18

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Milton	2024	26 mi	121 mph
Alex	2022	95 mi	46 mph
Ian	2022	40 mi	150 mph
Nicole	2022	7 mi	75 mph
Emily	2017	44 mi	58 mph
Irma	2017	35 mi	92 mph
Julia	2016	61 mi	52 mph
Fay	2008	58 mi	69 mph
Ernesto	2006	61 mi	40 mph
Tammy	2005	94 mi	46 mph
Charley	2004	12 mi	150 mph
Frances	2004	11 mi	92 mph
Jeanne	2004	18 mi	109 mph
Gabrielle	2001	7 mi	69 mph
Irene	1999	98 mi	75 mph
Mitch	1998	97 mi	63 mph
Erin	1995	21 mi	86 mph
Jerry	1995	32 mi	40 mph
Gordon	1994	62 mi	52 mph
Marco	1990	75 mi	58 mph
Keith	1988	24 mi	63 mph
Bob	1985	82 mi	58 mph
Isidore	1984	16 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1982	85 mi	46 mph
Dennis	1981	49 mi	40 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

33810 312
34759 219
33809 127
33844 124
33898 109
33884 81
33811 70
33880 67
33801 60
33815 57
33823 57
33813 54
33881 47
33830 46
33868 46
33805 37
33803 35
33843 35
33860 22
33812 20
33859 17
33841 16
33837 15
33853 14
33850 10
33897 9
33827 8
33896 8
33849 7
33838 6
33855 5

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 Polk County, FL?

NCEI records 256 hail events in Polk County since 1950, in 49 different years; that is about 3.3 recorded events a year. 44 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Polk County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 165 tornadoes in Polk County since 1950, 17 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 9.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Polk County?

11 Oct 2024: Hurricane Milton, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 42 declarations since 1953.

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

1,671 NFIP claims since 1978, 1,083 of them paid, for $46M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Polk County compare with the rest of Florida?

57.1 recorded events per 100 square miles against 73.8 statewide, and 2.2 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.