142 flood insurance claims·$2.1M paid·16 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 Calhoun 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 floods, tropical storms, and river flooding drive the dominant flood character of Calhoun County, supported by 24 flash flood events, 14 tropical storm events, 11 flood events, and 5 hurricane events with 5 deaths recorded over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include Hurricane Helene in September 2024, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds and a central pressure of 938 mb, producing storm surges exceeding 15 feet along the coast of Apalachee Bay and causing flash flooding across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records show significant claim activity across different zones. Zone A accounts for 111 claims with an average payout of $16,578 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Zone X accounts for 25 claims with an average payout of $15,706 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Additionally, Zone UNKNOWN recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $4,973 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $69,224 and an average water depth of 3 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these risks, given the concentration of historical flood claims and recorded water depths in those areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Calhoun County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
114 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 9 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 1998, with 53 claims and $596,239 paid, the year of Hurricane Georges and Hurricane Grorges.
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.
33 NOAA storm reports from Calhoun County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
43 federal disaster declarations since 1985, 16 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 Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2023 | — |
| Flood | May 22, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 19, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 18, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Jul 24, 2023. A typical summer pattern persisted with scattered thunderstorms across the area with a few reports of severe weather.
Flash Flood · May 22, 2023. Thunderstorms with heavy rain and gusty winds developed over the area. A few reports of trees down were received, and rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches resulted in reports of minor flooding.
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 Calhoun 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.