56 flood insurance claims·$393,826 paid·12 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 Glades 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.
Glades County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by general riverine and surface water flooding, alongside significant tropical weather impacts from hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 11 flood events, 8 tropical storms, 4 hurricanes resulting in 2 deaths, 4 tropical depressions, and 4 flash floods.
Recent regional impacts are documented in NOAA narratives, including the passage of Hurricane Idalia in August 2023, Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene in August and September 2024, and Hurricane Milton in October 2024. These systems brought severe wind fields, outer rain bands, and storm surges affecting southwest Florida.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates varying impacts across zones. Properties in Zone A recorded 46 claims with an average payout of $13,457 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X properties recorded 8 claims with an average payout of $7,739 and an average recorded water depth of 35 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED properties recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $13,226 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X—particularly those with recorded deep water inundation averages—should pay close attention to flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Glades County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
48 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 6 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 2008, with 15 claims and $74,573 paid, the year of Tropical Storm Fay.
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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Glades County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
37 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 12 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Milton | Oct 5, 2024 |
| Hurricane Debby | Aug 1, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 1, 2024 |
| Hurricane Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Aug 28, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 4 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Depression | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Aug 3, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Aug 29, 2023 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 28, 2022 | — · 2 killed |
| Tropical Depression | Nov 9, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Sep 22, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Sep 10, 2017 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Depression · Sep 26, 2024. The center of Hurricane Helene passed about 200 miles west of Naples as a Category 3 hurricane moving N-NE over the eastern Gulf of Mexico around midday on Thursday, September 26th, then made landfall later that evening in the Florida Big Bend as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and lowest central pressure of 938 mb. The large wind field around Helene brought tropical storm force wind…
Tropical Storm · Oct 9, 2024. Hurricane Milton became a Category 5 hurricane in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Monday, October 7th about 735 miles SW of Tampa while moving east-southeast, then turned east and northeast on Tuesday, October 8th while maintaining Category 4 and 5 strength. Milton's maximum winds decreased as it approached the Florida peninsula on Wednesday, October 9th, and made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurric…
Tropical Depression · Aug 3, 2024. The center of Debby passed about 140 miles west of Naples as a tropical storm moving north-northwest over the eastern Gulf of Mexico around 8 AM EDT on August 4th. Tropical Storm Debby intensified into a hurricane as it passed southwest of Tampa late August 4th before making landfall in the Florida Big Bend area as a Category 1 hurricane on the morning of August 5th, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and lowe…
Tropical Depression · Aug 29, 2023. The center of Hurricane Idalia passed about 180 miles west of Naples as a Category 2 moving north over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The outermost edge of Idalia's tropical storm force wind field skirted the SW Florida Gulf coast, and a few outer rain bands moved through South Florida on August 29th and 30th bringing brief tropical storm force wind gusts. A storm surge of about 3 feet, combined with high astronomica…
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 Glades 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.