31 flood insurance claims·$499,791 paid·10 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 Union 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 are the dominant flood and severe weather hazard in Union County, driven by landfalling hurricanes that bring heavy rainfall, wind damage, and river flooding to the region. Recent impacts include Hurricane Idalia in August 2023, which moved across the Suwannee River Valley, and Hurricane Debby in August 2024, which brought widespread inland flooding and flash flooding to the area.
Federal flood insurance claims data shows that historical payouts have affected multiple zones. Properties in Zone A recorded 22 claims with an average payout of $18,669 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $13,414 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. An additional claim in the unshaded Zone X recorded an average payout of $6,396 and an average water depth of 3 inches, while a single claim in an unknown zone averaged a $58,200 payout with 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Property owners and residents in FEMA Zone A, as well as those located in Zone X who experienced standing water during major tropical weather events, should pay the closest attention to flood risk and mitigation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Union County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
23 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 4 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 9 claims and $101,305 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Union County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Florida flood stories →
34 federal disaster declarations since 1992, 10 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.
16 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 10, 2017 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 10, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Jan 21, 2010 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 21, 2008 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Jun 13, 2006 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · 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.
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 2023. Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning August 30th around 745 AM EDT along the|Florida Big Bend near Keaton Beach as a category 3, with the inner core moving NE across the|Suwannee River Valley. The inner wind core of Idalia gradually weakened through the morning while,|heavily impacting Suwannee and Hamilton counties in NE Florida and Echols county SE Georgia as the|circulation tracked NE. Widespread tr…
Tropical Storm · Sep 10, 2017. Hurricane Irma's eye passed west of the local forecast area, with the region on the storm's turbulent east side. Widespread tropical storm force winds with gusts to hurricane force were felt across much of the area, with the strongest winds surging up the Florida east coast during the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 11th. Extensive tree and power line damage occurred across the local area from the winds. One of the greate…
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 Union 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.