11,389 flood insurance claims·$650.0M paid·17 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 Manatee 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.
Flood risk in Manatee County is dominated by standard flooding events, followed closely by tropical storms, flash floods, and storm surges. Historical data from the last 30 years records 35 flood events, 18 tropical storm events, 13 flash flood events, 8 storm surge/tide events, 5 hurricane events, and 1 coastal flood event. Recent history highlights significant severe weather impact, including Hurricane Milton in October 2024, which brought major hurricane-force winds, flash flooding, and storm surge to the region after making landfall nearby as a Category 3 storm following its peak as a Category 5 hurricane.
NFIP insurance claim data indicates that properties located within FEMA Zone A have experienced the highest concentration of historical claims, totaling 9,722 claims with an average payout of $77,816 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone V follows with 792 claims, averaging $51,569 and an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X records 569 claims with an average payout of $43,797 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Properties in Zone X_UNSHADED and Zone X_SHADED recorded 188 and 69 claims respectively, with average payouts under $11,000 and average water depths of 2 to 3 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in high-risk zones, particularly Zone A and Zone V, should pay the closest attention to historical claim frequencies and payout averages when evaluating potential flood mitigation and insurance coverage needs.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Manatee County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
10,771 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 2024, with 6,128 claims and $587.3M 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.
46 NOAA storm reports from Manatee County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
50 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 17 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.
80 since 1996: 13 flash floods, 35 river or area floods and 9 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Dec 17, 2023 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 28, 2022 | $1.0B · 4 killed |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 28, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · 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…
Storm Surge/Tide · 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…
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…
Tropical Storm · Aug 4, 2024. Hurricane Debby made landfall north of the local area along the Big Bend region of Florida near Steinhatchee around 7 AM EST on August 5th as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and a minimum pressure of 979 mb. Despite Debby���s track west of the Florida peninsula, impacts overspread the area from coastal locations spreading inland.|Storm surge affected the immediate coast from Ft.…
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 Manatee 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.