916 flood insurance claims·$21.4M 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 Dixie 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.
Tropical storms and hurricanes dominate the flood character of Dixie County, supported by over thirty years of NOAA records detailing numerous tropical storm, hurricane, storm surge, and flood events. Recent activity includes Hurricane Debby, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along the neighboring Taylor County coast in August 2024, producing storm surge flooding along the Florida Big Bend coast alongside heavy rainfall.
Federal insurance claims data demonstrates significant historical payouts across multiple flood zones. Zone V accounts for the highest claim volume with 476 filings, averaging a 12-inch recorded water depth and a $19,115 payout. Zone A follows with 397 claims, averaging a 15-inch recorded water depth and a $42,938 payout. Additional claims occurred in Zone X (17 claims, averaging 9 inches and $32,933), unknown zones (17 claims, averaging 3 inches and $4,932), and unshaded Zone X areas (5 claims, averaging 2 inches and $17,766).
Coastal property owners and residents in high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas—particularly those in Zone V and Zone A—should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the high concentration of claims and recorded water depths driven by tropical systems and storm surge.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Dixie County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
882 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 13 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 1996, with 215 claims and $3.1M paid, the year of Tropical Storm Josephine.
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.
55 NOAA storm reports from Dixie County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
44 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 16 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Milton | Oct 5, 2024 |
| 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
72 since 1996: 8 flash floods, 11 river or area floods and 12 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 26, 2024 | $1.0B · 3 killed |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 26, 2024 | $16.1M |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 26, 2024 | $64.4M |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 5, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 5, 2024 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 5, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 5, 2024 | $5.0M · 3 killed |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Hurricane (Typhoon) · 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…
Storm Surge/Tide · 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…
Tropical Storm · Oct 9, 2024. Major Hurricane Milton moved across the Florida peninsula and brought fringe impacts across portions of the coastal big bend with winds to tropical storm force. Rainfall amounts were less than three inches, and surge was negligible.
Tropical Storm · Aug 5, 2024. Hurricane Debby made landfall along the Taylor County coast as a Category 1 Hurricane on the morning of Monday August 5th. In addition to storm surge flooding along the FL Big Bend coast, around 12 inches of rainfall lead to widespread flooding in Madison and Taylor counties. In particular, rainfall in Southeast Madison County corresponded to a 0.2% annual chance occurrence or a 500 year flood event. Long duration…
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 Dixie 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.