18,556 flood insurance claims·$1.2B paid·14 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 Hillsborough 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.
Standard flooding from summer thunderstorms and severe weather events dominates the historical record in Hillsborough County, which recorded 74 standard flood events alongside impacts from tropical storms, flash floods, storm surges, and hurricanes over the last 30 years.
Recent occurrences illustrate these hazards, including street flooding near Tampa produced by robust easterly flow sea breeze convection on June 11, 2025. Additionally, a tropical disturbance resulted in a 1-in-1000-year 3-hour rainfall event near Plant City with 9 inches of rain on July 14, 2025, causing flash flooding. Furthermore, Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key on October 9, 2024, after peaking as a Category 5 storm.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay close attention based on National Flood Insurance Program claim distributions. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of claims with 15,646 filed, averaging an $87,517 payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 1,719 claims with an average payout of $52,407 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 463 claims with an average payout of $13,939 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone V properties recorded 296 claims with an average payout of $83,837 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Hillsborough County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
16,544 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 2024, with 10,269 claims and $1.1B paid, the year of Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
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.
51 NOAA storm reports from Hillsborough County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
47 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 14 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 |
| Hurricane Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Tropical Storm Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Hurricane Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
118 since 1996: 11 flash floods, 74 river or area floods and 9 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 11, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 12, 2024 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2024 | — · 1 killed |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Dec 17, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2025. Northerly flow overspreading the peninsula west of a tropical disturbance (Invest 93L) approaching the state from the Atlantic results in south to southwest propagating convection that produces damaging wind gusts near Manor Ridge and Darby in Hernando and Pasco counties, along with 1-in-1000-year 3-hour, and 1-in-500- to -1000-year 6-hour rainfall events near Plant City in Hillsborough County with 9 and 11 inches…
Flood · Jun 11, 2025. Robust late afternoon and evening easterly flow sea breeze convection produces severe hail near Fort Myers Shores in Lee County and street flooding near Tampa in Hillsborough County.
Flood · Jul 12, 2024. Interaction between the afternoon sea breeze and a weak surface trough over the area produce thunderstorms resulting in around 2 inches of rain causing flooding near Tampa in Hillsborough County.
Hurricane (Typhoon) · Oct 9, 2024. Hurricane Milton made landfall along the west-central Florida coast near Siesta Key at 7:30 PM EST on October 9th as a major, Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and a minimum pressure of 954 mb. 2 days prior to landfall on October 7th, Milton reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum pressure of 897 mb, making it the 5th mos…
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 Hillsborough 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.