16,499 flood insurance claims·$723.2M paid·19 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 Escambia 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 storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Escambia County, backed by 75 recorded flash flood events over the last 30 years out of 90 total flood-related events. Recent history includes slow-moving storms in April 2025 that produced heavy rain and localized flooding, as well as a stalled thunderstorm cluster in June 2023 that dropped 6 to 12 inches of rain and caused widespread flash flooding around Pensacola.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates financial impacts across multiple hazard zones. Zone A recorded 11,197 claims with an average payout of $58,364 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Zone V properties experienced 1,441 claims with an average payout of $62,548 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches. Zone X accounts for 3,015 claims with an average payout of $52,848 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches, while Shaded Zone X recorded 166 claims averaging $75,066 with an average water depth of 7 inches, and Unshaded Zone X logged 590 claims averaging $46,981 with an average water depth of 5 inches.
Coastal properties, homes in high-risk coastal V zones, and properties situated in standard Special Flood Hazard Area A zones should pay the most attention to this risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Escambia County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
13,394 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 12 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 2004, with 4,992 claims and $431.3M paid, the year of Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan.
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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Escambia County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
40 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 19 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 Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Fred | Aug 13, 2021 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
90 since 1996: 75 flash floods, 1 river or area floods and 7 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 6, 2025. Slow moving storms moved across the western Florida panhandle and produced heavy rain. Flooding was reporting in a few areas.
Flash Flood · May 13, 2024. Thunderstorms moved across the western Florida panhandle and produced damaging winds.
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2023. A strong cold front moved across the area and brought severe storms to the area. The thunderstorms produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds.
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2023. A large cluster of thunderstorms stalled near the coast in the Florida panhandle and produced very heavy rain with 6 to 12 inches of rain recorded. This caused widespread flash flooding around Pensacola. The thunderstorms also produced wind damage.
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 Escambia 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.