132 flood insurance claims·$741,700 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 Hendry 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.
Tropical storms and hurricanes dominate the flood risk profile of Hendry County, supported by NOAA data recording multiple tropical storm, tropical depression, and hurricane events over the past 30 years. Recent impacts include the passage of Hurricane Milton in October 2024 and Hurricane Helene in September 2024, both of which brought significant regional storm activity from the Gulf of Mexico. Additional recent tropical systems affected the area in August 2024 (Debby) and August 2023 (Idalia).
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate claims across multiple zones, with distinct risk profiles. Zone A accounts for the majority of claims with 94 filings, an average payout of $18,834, and an average recorded water depth of 19 inches. Zone X properties recorded 20 claims with an average payout of $22,268 and an average water depth of 50 inches, while Zone X Unshaded recorded 12 claims with an average payout of $18,138 and an average water depth of 1 inch. An additional 6 claims were recorded in unknown zones with an average payout of $4,095 and an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to flood preparedness, given the frequency of tropical weather events and the historical claim payouts and water depths recorded in these areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Hendry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
106 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 22 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 2005, with 49 claims and $145,591 paid, the year of Hurricane Katrina Evacuation and Hurricane Wilma.
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 Hendry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
38 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.
24 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Depression | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Aug 3, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 31, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Aug 29, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Aug 1, 2023 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 28, 2022 | $419,000 · 2 killed |
| Tropical Depression | Nov 9, 2022 | — |
— = 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…
Flood · Jul 31, 2023. A weak pressure pattern led to seabreeze-driven showers and thunderstorms over interior South Florida. Light winds caused the storms to move little, producing very high rainfall rates.
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 Hendry 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.