6,064 flood insurance claims·$214.3M paid·14 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 Duval 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.
Duval County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by general floods and flash floods, supported by frequent coastal flood events driven by nor'easters, high astronomical tides, and tropical systems. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 102 flood events, 54 flash flood events, 34 coastal flood events, and 18 tropical storm events resulting in 1 death. Recent occurrences include extended nor'easters in September and October 2025, which combined onshore flow, high astronomical tides, and storm surge to produce moderate tidal flooding along the coast, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the St. Johns River basin.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate significant payout histories across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 2,957 claims with an average payout of $62,615 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Zone X registers 2,618 claims with an average payout of $33,189 and an average water depth of 5 inches, while Zone X shaded and unshaded areas show lower averages. Zone V records 33 claims with an average payout of $19,374 and an average water depth of 6 inches.
Properties located in Zone A and Zone X, as well as coastal properties, parcels along the Intracoastal Waterway, and homes near the St. Johns River basin, should pay the closest attention to flood risks given the historical distribution of claims and vulnerability to tidal and storm-driven flooding.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Duval County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
3,432 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 5 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 2017, with 2,050 claims and $143.5M paid, the year of Hurricane Irma.
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.
105 NOAA storm reports from Duval County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
41 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 14 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Milton | Oct 5, 2024 |
| Hurricane 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 |
| Tropical Storm Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
208 since 1996: 54 flash floods, 102 river or area floods and 34 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 22, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 9, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 9, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2025. Southwest flow over a moist and diurnally unstable airmass with slow storm motion produced flash flooding where boundaries merged along sea breezes and outflows in the afternoon across the Jacksonville downtown area.
Flash Flood · Jun 29, 2025. Southwest flow over a moist and diurnally unstable airmass triggered isolated strong to severe storms along sea breeze and boundary mergers toward the I-95 corridor in the mid-afternoon. Storm mergers produced very heavy rainfall rates where localized flash flooding occurred.
Flood · Aug 22, 2025. Weak southwest to west steering flow combined with high atmospheric moisture and surface forcing from a weak trough and sea breezes produced localized heavy rainfall in the afternoon and evening over a diurnally unstable airmass.
Coastal Flood · Aug 20, 2025. Increasing astronomical tides during the approaching new moon (8/23) combined with increasing NNE winds, and building swells from Hurricane Erin increased local tidal levels through the day, with peak inundation in the evening along the Atlantic coast around high tide, which was around 8 pm EDT. A coastal flood advisory was in effect for minor tidal flooding impacts, including flooding of normally flood prone tida…
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 Duval 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.