2,866 flood insurance claims·$46.0M 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 Franklin 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.
Franklin County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by tropical storms, storm surges, and flash flooding. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 31 tropical storms, 18 storm surge or tide events with 1 death, 16 flash floods, and 10 hurricanes with 1 death, alongside localized floods and coastal floods. The severity of these coastal impacts is underscored by events such as Hurricane Helene in September 2024, which brought a Category 4 landfall with 140 mph winds and a devastating storm surge exceeding 15 feet above normal along the coast of Apalachee Bay.
NFIP claim data indicates that properties in high-risk coastal and riverine environments bear the heaviest burden. Zone V has accumulated the most claims at 1,567, with an average payout of $24,828 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Zone A follows with 1,226 claims, averaging $20,783 and an average water depth of 6 inches. Zone X recorded 27 claims averaging $57,984 with an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 23 claims averaging $19,114 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 15 claims averaging $3,736 with a 2-inch average depth.
Coastal property owners, real estate agents, and residents in Zones V and A should pay the most attention to flood risk, given the high frequency of claims and historical vulnerability to hurricane storm surges.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Franklin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
2,823 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 7 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 2018, with 820 claims and $18.7M paid, the year of Hurricane Michael.
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.
57 NOAA storm reports from Franklin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
46 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 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 Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
81 since 1996: 16 flash floods, 3 river or area floods and 21 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 12, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 5, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 5, 2024 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 · 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 · Sep 13, 2024. Several showers and thunderstorms developed in association with the remnants of Hurricane Francine and a stalled frontal boundary. Several areas of rotation were detected, but no tornado touchdowns were reported. There was one report of a tree down in Walton county. In addition, heavy rainfall led to areas of flash 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 Franklin 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.