9,005 flood insurance claims·$336.6M paid·22 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Bay County, Florida. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from severe weather and tropical systems dominates the flood history of Bay County, FL, backed by 149 recorded flash flood events over the last 30 years alongside hurricanes, tropical storms, and storm surges. Recent NOAA storm records illustrate this severe weather threat, including flash flooding caused by 3 to 9 inches of rainfall from thunderstorms on May 11, 2025, and major impacts during Hurricane Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm on September 26, 2024, producing devastating coastal storm surges exceeding 15 feet.
National Flood Insurance Program records show significant historical claims across multiple zones. Properties in Zone A recorded 3,846 claims with an average payout of $46,733 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X accounts for 3,456 claims with an average payout of $63,721 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X_UNSHADED (863 claims, average payout of $38,601, average water depth of 7 inches), Zone X_SHADED (507 claims, average payout of $60,951, average water depth of 5 inches), and Zone V (305 claims, average payout of $52,962, average water depth of 9 inches).
Coastal property owners, residents in low-lying areas, and homeowners in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas (Zones A and V) and moderate-to-low risk areas (Zone X) should pay the closest attention to these persistent flood and storm surge risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Bay County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
5,521 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 8 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1995, with 3,026 claims and $139.6M paid, the year of Hurricane Erin and Hurricane Opal.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
127 NOAA storm reports from Bay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
49 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 22 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 23, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 23, 2024 |
| Hurricane Debby | Aug 1, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 1, 2024 |
| Hurricane Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Tropical Storm Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
228 since 1996: 149 flash floods, 28 river or area floods and 16 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2025. A moist and unstable summer airmass led to the development of scattered afternoon thunderstorms, a few of which were strong to severe.
Flash Flood · May 11, 2025. Steep mid level lapse rates along with sufficient instability and deep layer shear ahead of a cold front brought a couple of rounds of showers and thunderstorms to the region. Damaging wind gusts were reported across the Florida panhandle. In addition, a couple of tornadoes were reported in Walton county and Holmes county. Flash flooding also occurred in portions of Bay and Washington counties. Rainfall amounts of…
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastat…
Flash Flood · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastat…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Bay County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.