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Florida

The recorded hazard history of every county in Florida: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Florida has 39,578 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 67 counties, led by damaging wind: 73.8 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 890 deaths and 6,200 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $80B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Pinellas, Duval and Leon.

FEMA lists 188 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Cow Creek Fire (23 Apr 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 448,618 flood claims since 1978, $19B paid; 1,040,464 residential policies are in force.

1,307events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

39,578events since 195073.8 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

188disaster declarations since 1953last 23 Apr 2026

448,618NFIP flood claims$19B paid

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. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Florida	US
Recorded events since 1950	39,578	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	73.8	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	18.2	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	890	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$80B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	20.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$62K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	1,040,464	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind15,461

Hail5,668

Tornado3,820

Flood3,375

Other2,907

Tropical2,247

Lightning1,777

Drought1,514

Cold1,120

Fog751

Wildfire488

Heat294

Winter156

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	15,461	2.2%	58
■ Hail	5,668	1.3%	—
■ Tornado	3,820	4.7%	207
■ Flood	3,375	1.8%	22
■ Other	2,907	6.3%	5
■ Tropical	2,247	20.2%	357
■ Lightning	1,777	9.8%	178
■ Drought	1,514	1.8%	—
■ Cold	1,120	2.1%	8
■ Fog	751	4.1%	25
■ Wildfire	488	5.1%	15
■ Heat	294	0.5%	15
■ Winter	156	0.1%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 20Tornado: 143Wind: 57

Hail: 137Tornado: 322Wind: 310

Hail: 188Tornado: 685Wind: 549

Hail: 251Tornado: 569Wind: 860

Hail: 1339Tornado: 735Flood: 457Wind: 2936Winter: 12Tropical: 218Heat: 8Cold: 83Wildfire: 132Lightning: 335Fog: 540Other: 259

Hail: 1996Tornado: 589Flood: 578Wind: 2961Winter: 6Tropical: 764Heat: 32Cold: 692Drought: 156Wildfire: 140Lightning: 710Fog: 203Other: 821

Hail: 1141Tornado: 383Flood: 1084Wind: 4682Winter: 102Tropical: 519Heat: 25Cold: 248Drought: 610Wildfire: 124Lightning: 566Fog: 4Other: 1102

Hail: 596Tornado: 394Flood: 1256Wind: 3106Winter: 36Tropical: 746Heat: 229Cold: 97Drought: 748Wildfire: 92Lightning: 166Fog: 4Other: 725

2201950s7691960s1,4221970s1,6801980s7,0541990s9,6482000s10,5902010s8,1952020s

Recorded events in Florida by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Pinellas County	935	7	341.5	9.8	Wind	147	112	45	51,779	Relatively High
Duval County	1,819	72	238.5	18.2	Wind	77	286	41	6,064	Relatively High
Leon County	1,350	46	202.0	46.1	Wind	37	139	36	1,015	Relatively Moderate
Flagler County	832	15	171.1	68.8	Wind	28	117	38	2,153	Relatively Moderate
St. Johns County	820	30	136.5	28.0	Wind	66	121	34	7,639	Relatively Moderate
Hillsborough County	1,309	8	128.0	8.9	Wind	149	287	47	18,556	Relatively High
Seminole County	391	6	126.4	8.3	Wind	31	135	39	1,562	Relatively Moderate
Clay County	631	17	104.4	28.4	Wind	27	120	39	1,744	Relatively Moderate
Alachua County	885	8	101.1	31.7	Wind	45	141	35	309	Relatively Moderate
Brevard County	1,004	23	98.9	16.3	Wind	139	236	45	5,690	Relatively High
Putnam County	700	30	96.1	94.4	Wind	47	109	41	621	Relatively Low
Pasco County	709	5	95.0	12.1	Wind	98	107	44	14,544	Relatively High
Hernando County	441	2	93.2	22.0	Wind	36	28	40	3,245	Relatively Moderate
Lee County	728	15	93.2	9.2	Wind	130	122	45	48,496	Relatively High
Escambia County	606	6	92.2	18.8	Wind	99	80	40	16,499	Relatively High
Broward County	1,108	20	92.1	5.7	Wind	147	210	43	35,049	Relatively High
Citrus County	535	2	91.9	33.8	Wind	51	78	40	7,076	Relatively High
Holmes County	440	20	91.9	222.4	Wind	21	12	39	165	Relatively Low
Bay County	690	16	91.0	38.5	Wind	92	68	49	9,005	Relatively Moderate
Bradford County	254	11	86.4	89.0	Wind	21	33	34	184	Very Low
Orange County	780	4	86.4	5.5	Wind	70	276	39	2,271	Relatively High
Sarasota County	473	0	85.1	10.6	Wind	84	48	48	14,415	Relatively High
Wakulla County	496	9	81.8	143.0	Wind	26	36	45	1,554	Relatively Low
Jackson County	731	35	79.6	153.3	Wind	50	52	34	72	Relatively Low
Nassau County	512	21	78.9	54.4	Wind	31	96	40	845	Relatively Low
Manatee County	567	2	76.3	13.7	Wind	94	71	50	11,389	Relatively High
Washington County	433	30	74.1	170.2	Wind	33	23	40	184	Relatively Low
Gadsden County	356	24	68.9	81.4	Wind	35	31	39	41	Relatively Low
Union County	164	11	67.3	100.4	Wind	8	18	34	31	Very Low
Suwannee County	463	10	67.2	104.1	Wind	45	65	39	364	Relatively Low
Madison County	458	19	65.8	250.4	Wind	23	35	33	84	Relatively Low
Marion County	1,021	43	64.3	26.5	Wind	62	140	38	250	Relatively High
Santa Rosa County	636	1	62.8	32.8	Wind	75	80	43	10,439	Relatively Moderate
Volusia County	688	7	62.5	12.2	Wind	106	189	44	12,577	Relatively High
Walton County	643	26	61.9	80.3	Wind	71	62	42	3,174	Relatively Moderate
Miami-Dade County	1,160	14	61.1	4.4	Wind	150	244	43	62,029	Very High
Okaloosa County	564	1	60.7	26.4	Wind	100	66	41	8,226	Relatively Moderate
Sumter County	327	3	58.7	24.1	Wind	17	31	34	123	Relatively Moderate
Jefferson County	345	8	57.7	237.0	Wind	17	22	39	18	Very Low
Polk County	1,026	0	57.1	13.6	Wind	165	256	42	1,671	Relatively High
Columbia County	432	2	54.2	61.4	Wind	25	55	36	338	Relatively Low
Gilchrist County	185	7	52.9	100.8	Wind	5	29	37	212	Very Low
Baker County	309	20	52.8	107.6	Wind	12	39	39	95	Very Low
Palm Beach County	1,026	22	52.2	6.8	Wind	198	172	41	10,758	Relatively High
Calhoun County	292	20	51.5	214.1	Wind	23	28	43	142	Relatively Low
Charlotte County	349	1	51.2	17.9	Wind	65	38	42	11,697	Relatively High
Hamilton County	259	6	50.4	185.1	Wind	8	51	37	116	Relatively Low
Indian River County	245	0	48.7	15.0	Wind	34	67	35	3,349	Relatively High
St. Lucie County	277	3	48.5	8.1	Hail	53	85	38	3,988	Relatively High
Martin County	245	0	45.1	15.3	Hail	42	64	41	2,631	Relatively Moderate
Lake County	407	5	42.8	10.3	Wind	62	114	37	470	Relatively Moderate
Levy County	459	3	41.0	103.9	Wind	23	57	44	1,316	Relatively Low
Hardee County	253	0	39.7	99.5	Wind	24	29	36	129	Relatively Low
Franklin County	215	6	39.5	171.0	Wind	48	12	46	2,866	Relatively Low
Lafayette County	199	13	36.6	237.4	Wind	10	7	35	207	Very Low
Gulf County	199	4	36.0	138.6	Wind	28	26	47	1,717	Relatively Low
Highlands County	351	3	34.5	34.0	Wind	49	60	37	202	Relatively Moderate
Monroe County	304	5	30.9	37.0	Wind	78	12	47	27,430	Relatively Moderate
Glades County	238	11	29.5	194.5	Drought	27	27	37	56	Relatively Low
Taylor County	257	1	24.6	117.8	Wind	24	22	40	693	Relatively Low
Liberty County	200	10	23.9	253.2	Wind	19	22	41	9	Very Low
Dixie County	159	2	22.6	93.0	Wind	3	16	44	916	Very Low
Osceola County	297	1	22.4	7.4	Wind	43	92	39	1,032	Relatively Moderate
Hendry County	255	12	22.1	63.3	Drought	32	34	38	132	Relatively Low
DeSoto County	134	1	21.0	38.9	Wind	35	18	38	453	Relatively Moderate
Okeechobee County	158	0	20.5	39.2	Wind	27	46	35	295	Relatively Low
Collier County	385	3	19.3	10.0	Wind	71	56	54	14,773	Relatively High

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Hardee County	78	118	66.1	129	$6.1M
Gulf County	1,005	1,610	62.4	1,717	$95M
Levy County	505	840	60.1	1,316	$55M
DeSoto County	232	434	53.5	453	$17M
Citrus County	2,858	5,549	51.5	7,076	$385M
Dixie County	284	556	51.1	916	$21M
Taylor County	333	669	49.8	693	$37M
Lee County	39,200	84,120	46.6	48,496	$4.0B
Franklin County	865	1,984	43.6	2,866	$47M
Monroe County	8,939	22,181	40.3	27,430	$714M
Pinellas County	30,256	76,020	39.8	51,779	$3.8B
Hernando County	1,443	4,089	35.3	3,245	$138M
Washington County	38	117	32.5	184	$4.6M
Volusia County	8,084	25,185	32.1	12,577	$582M
Putnam County	299	1,038	28.8	621	$11M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Florida by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Fire	69
Hurricane	59
Severe Storm	24
Flood	14
Tropical Storm	6
Freezing	6
Biological	4
Other	2
Coastal Storm	2
Tornado	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
23 Apr 2026	FM-5632	Fire management assistance	Fire	Cow Creek Fire	1
22 Apr 2026	FM-5631	Fire management assistance	Fire	Railroad Complex Fire	2
5 Nov 2024	DR-4844	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	0
11 Oct 2024	DR-4834	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	51
8 Oct 2024	EM-3623	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	0
7 Oct 2024	EM-3622	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	51
28 Sep 2024	DR-4828	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	47
24 Sep 2024	EM-3615	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Helene	41
10 Aug 2024	DR-4806	Major disaster	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Debby	61
3 Aug 2024	EM-3605	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	61
17 Jun 2024	DR-4794	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	13
31 Aug 2023	DR-4734	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Idalia	49
28 Aug 2023	EM-3596	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Idalia	49
27 Apr 2023	DR-4709	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	1
13 Dec 2022	DR-4680	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Nicole	61

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Florida by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

448,618 claims, 313,638 paid, $19B in total; 31,815 repetitive-loss and 5,389 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Florida with flood claims (1,012).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which Florida counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Palm Beach (198), Polk (165) and Miami-Dade (150), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Florida counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Miami-Dade (62,029), Pinellas (51,779) and Lee (48,496) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Florida had?

188 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 2 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Florida compare with the national rate?

73.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 20.6 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.