116 flood insurance claims·$1.6M paid·11 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 Hamilton 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.
Hamilton County experiences a mix of standard floods, flash floods, and tropical weather impacts, with flood and flash flood events each accounting for six occurrences over the last 30 years alongside multiple hurricane and tropical storm impacts.
Recent weather events highlight these recurring hazards. In August 2024, Hurricane Debby brought widespread inland flooding across the Suwannee River Valley, causing flash flooding and moderate to major river flooding. Additionally, Hurricane Helene made landfall in September 2024 as a category 4 storm, producing a wide swath of wind damage with peak wind gusts of 55 to 75 mph across the eastern half of the region.
Historical NFIP claims data underscores varying risk levels across different zones. Zone A has recorded 70 claims with an average payout of $20,632 and an average recorded water depth of 20 inches. Properties in Zone UNKNOWN account for 40 claims averaging $7,729 with a 4-inch average water depth, while Zone X has seen 5 claims averaging $22,587 with a 2-inch average water depth. Zone V recorded 1 claim with a $0 payout and 0 inches of average water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents in high-risk zones, particularly Zone A and areas with unverified flood zone statuses, should pay the closest attention to these historical payout and water depth patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Hamilton County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
71 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 1998, with 21 claims and $334,536 paid.
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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Hamilton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
37 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 11 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 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | May 10, 2024 |
| Hurricane Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Tropical Storm Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
15 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 7, 2020 | $35,000 |
| Flood | Dec 5, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2012 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2012 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Apr 5, 2009 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Hurricane (Typhoon) · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a category 4 with peak winds of near 140 mph in the Florida Big |Bend just east of the Aucilla River Entrance in Taylor County, late Thursday evening September 26, |2024. Helene's main impact to southeast Georgia and northeast Florida was wind damage as it |tracked quickly north-northeast. The very powerful hurricane and the forward motion produced a |wide swath of wind damage ac…
Tropical Storm · Aug 4, 2024. Hurricane Debby made landfall as a Category 1 storm along the FL Big Bend coast during the early morning of August 5, 2024. Prior to landfall, outer convective bands produced tornadoes across portions of northeast Florida on August 4th. Widespread flooding moved inland with Debby across the Suwannee River Valley and inland Southeast Georgia where flash flooding and moderate to major river flooding occurred.
Flood · Jun 15, 2023. A frontal zone was north of the area with high pressure extending across south Florida. Aloft, a 500 mb trough base was across the area. Waves of PVA moved eastward through the base of the upper trough which enhanced diurnally driven convection along the sea breezes under westerly steering flow.
Flash Flood · Jun 7, 2020. Deep tropical moisture was in place (PWAT 2.5) with the area on the east side of TS |Cristobal as the storm approached the LA Gulf Coast. Waves of moderate to heavy rainfall with isolated embedded thunderstorms pivoted northward across the local forecast area into the evening with a more solid band of moderate to heavy rainfall developing across north Florida as low level convergence increased between a lifting fr…
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 Hamilton 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.