States › Florida › 1998

Florida, 1998

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

1,589events recorded1,122 in 1997

64deaths recorded522 injuries

$1.7Bproperty damage (estimates)$37M crop damage

20disaster declarations14,948 NFIP claims, $102M 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.

Events by hazard

Wind487

Hail256

Flood239

Fog166

Tropical119

Tornado115

Other89

Lightning75

Wildfire33

Heat7

Cold3

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1998 was 1,589 against 1,122 in 1997.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 1998
Hillsborough County	87
Polk County	78
Pasco County	70
Pinellas County	55
Manatee County	54
Lee County	49
Monroe County	49
Sarasota County	48
Citrus County	46
Brevard County	41
Miami-Dade County	41
Broward County	40
Hernando County	36
Duval County	34
Charlotte County	33
Highlands County	32
Putnam County	32
Levy County	30
Marion County	29
Orange County	26
Volusia County	24
Collier County	23
Hardee County	23
St. Johns County	23
Suwannee County	23

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
23 Feb 1998	Osceola	Tornado	F3	$50,000,000	25	145
23 Feb 1998	Seminole	Tornado	F3	$30,000,000	12	36
22 Feb 1998	Orange	Tornado	F3	$15,000,000	3	70
2 Sep 1998	Bay	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$3,000,000	2	—
26 Dec 1998	Glades	High Wind	—	$15,000	2	—
4 Nov 1998	Forecast zone	Tropical Storm	—	—	2	—
6 Jul 1998	Polk	Lightning	—	—	2	—
16 Aug 1998	Orange	Lightning	—	—	2	—
22 Feb 1998	Volusia	Tornado	F2	$4,000,000	1	3
21 Jun 1998	Polk	Lightning	—	—	1	2
23 Feb 1998	Volusia	Tornado	F3	$1,000,000	1	—
26 Dec 1998	Sarasota	Thunderstorm Wind	—	$30,000	1	—
21 Jun 1998	Hillsborough	Thunderstorm Wind	—	$1,000	1	—
29 Jun 1998	Pasco	Lightning	—	—	1	—
30 Jun 1998	Hillsborough	Lightning	—	—	1	—
3 Jun 1998	Lee	Heat	—	—	1	—
25 Jun 1998	Broward	Lightning	—	—	1	—
1 Jun 1998	Volusia	Heat	—	—	1	—
24 Jun 1998	Lee	Heat	—	—	1	—
13 Jun 1998	Lee	Heat	—	—	1	—
4 Jul 1998	Monroe	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	—	1	—
2 Feb 1998	Forecast zone	High Wind	46 mph	—	1	—
1 Jul 1998	Brevard	Wildfire	—	$200,000,000	—	52
4 Nov 1998	Forecast zone	Tropical Storm	—	$30,000,000	—	65
1 Jul 1998	Volusia	Wildfire	—	$150,000,000	—	11
25 Sep 1998	Forecast zone	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$250,000,000	—	—
2 Feb 1998	Miami-Dade	Tornado	F2	$175,000,000	—	6
4 Nov 1998	Monroe	Tornado	F2	$25,000,000	—	20
9 Mar 1998	Okeechobee	Tornado	F1	$5,400,000	—	10
10 Mar 1998	Gulf	Flood	—	$105,000,000	—	—
10 Mar 1998	Calhoun	Flood	—	$95,000,000	—	—
10 Mar 1998	Jackson	Flood	—	$70,000,000	—	—
25 Sep 1998	Forecast zone	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$70,000,000	—	—
23 Jun 1998	Pinellas	Lightning	—	—	—	6
23 Feb 1998	Orange	Tornado	F3	$5,000,000	—	5
14 Aug 1998	Taylor	Lightning	—	$750,000	—	5
29 Sep 1998	Suwannee	Tornado	F2	$600,000	—	5
10 Jul 1998	Putnam	Wildfire	—	—	—	5
1 Jul 1998	Seminole	Wildfire	—	$30,000,000	—	2
10 Mar 1998	Forecast zone	Flood	—	$50,000,000	—	—

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 1998

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
6 Nov 1998	DR-1259	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Storm Mitch	2
28 Sep 1998	DR-1249	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Georges	17
25 Sep 1998	EM-3131	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Grorges	34
4 Sep 1998	DR-1241	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Earl	6
28 Jun 1998	FM-2215	Fire management assistance	Fire	Orlando Fire Complex	0
27 Jun 1998	FM-2214	Fire management assistance	Fire	Withlacootchee Fire Complex	0
21 Jun 1998	FM-2212	Fire management assistance	Fire	Calooshattchee Fire Complex	0
21 Jun 1998	FM-2211	Fire management assistance	Fire	Chippola River District-Gulf County-Depot Creek Fire	0
20 Jun 1998	FM-2209	Fire management assistance	Fire	Suwanee Fire Complex	0
20 Jun 1998	FM-2208	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bunnelle Fire Complex	0
19 Jun 1998	FM-2207	Fire management assistance	Fire	Waccassa Fire Complex	0
19 Jun 1998	FM-2206	Fire management assistance	Fire	San Pedro Day Fire	0
19 Jun 1998	FM-2205	Fire management assistance	Fire	Waldo Southeast Fire	0
19 Jun 1998	FM-2204	Fire management assistance	Fire	Race Track - Waldo Fire	0
18 Jun 1998	FM-2203	Fire management assistance	Fire	County Line Fire	0
18 Jun 1998	DR-1223	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazard	67
16 Jun 1998	FM-2201	Fire management assistance	Fire	Jacksonville Fire Complex	0
8 Jun 1998	FM-2200	Fire management assistance	Fire	Palm Coast 98 Fire Complex (St.Johns, Seminole & Flager	0
12 Feb 1998	DR-1204	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, High Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	3
6 Jan 1998	DR-1195	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, High Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	55

Flood insurance claims with a 1998 date of loss

14,948 NFIP claims, 7,925 of them paid, for $101,807,234.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.