1,032 flood insurance claims·$25.0M paid·13 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 Osceola 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.
Osceola County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash floods and general floods driven by tropical systems and severe weather. Over the past 30 years, recorded events include 13 flash flood events, 8 flood events, 6 tropical storm events, 2 tropical depression events, and 1 hurricane event.
Recent historical impacts are documented in NOAA storm events, such as October 2024, when Hurricane Milton moved across central Florida as a category 3 hurricane at landfall, producing outer rainbands and a prolific tornado outbreak across the peninsula. Earlier in September 2024, Major Hurricane Helene brought expansive wind fields and tropical storm conditions with peak gusts ranging from 45 to 65 mph.
NFIP claim records demonstrate that properties in high-risk Zone A have experienced significant vulnerability, logging 740 claims with an average payout of $46,760 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 268 claims with an average payout of $39,697 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in these mapped zones should pay the closest attention to flood preparedness, given the documented financial losses and water depths associated with historical storms.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Osceola County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
761 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 8 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 2022, with 397 claims and $21.1M paid, the year of Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole.
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.
16 NOAA storm reports from Osceola County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
39 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 13 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 Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Tropical Storm Idalia | Aug 27, 2023 |
| Hurricane Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Nicole | Nov 7, 2022 |
| Hurricane Ian | Sep 23, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
30 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 9, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2024 | $1.1M |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2024 | $800,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 29, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Sep 28, 2022 | $245.0M · 1 killed |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 25, 2025. Thunderstorms lead to locally heavy rainfall and flooding in Celebration.
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Major Hurricane Helene paralleled the west coast of Florida about 100 miles offshore before making landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida near the city of Perry. The system's expansive wind field within its eastern periphery produced a period of tropical storm conditions, particularly in gusts, across much of east central Florida including its adjacent coastal waters. Peak wind gusts ranged between 45 - 55 mph…
Flash Flood · Oct 9, 2024. Hurricane Milton moved ashore the west-central Florida coast as a category 3 hurricane on Oct 9 around 1930EST. The system continued slowly in an east-northeast trajectory across central Florida, becoming a category 1 hurricane before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral. The outer rainbands of Milton overspread the Florida peninsula earlier in the day, leading to a prolific tornado outbreak across…
Tropical Storm · Oct 9, 2024. Hurricane Milton moved ashore the west-central Florida coast as a category 3 hurricane on Oct 9 around 1930EST. The system continued slowly in an east-northeast trajectory across central Florida, becoming a category 1 hurricane before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral. The outer rainbands of Milton overspread the Florida peninsula earlier in the day, leading to a prolific tornado outbreak across…
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 Osceola 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.