80 flood insurance claims·$1.7M paid·2 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 Seminole County, Georgia. 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.
Seminole County experiences a flood risk characterized primarily by tropical storms and heavy summer rainfall. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 10 tropical storms, 6 flash flood events, 4 general floods, and 2 hurricanes resulting in 1 death.
Recent events illustrate these hazards. In November 2022, Tropical Storm Nicole moved across the Florida Big Bend into southern Georgia, bringing rain impacts with no reported flooding. Later, the area faced severe weather from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in September 2024 as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph before moving inland across Florida and into south-central Georgia. Additionally, scattered thunderstorms dropped 3 to 5 inches of rain in May 2023, resulting in minor flooding in a few areas.
Federal Emergency Management Agency records show that flood impacts extend beyond high-risk zones. Properties located in Zone A recorded 35 claims with an average water depth of 6 inches and an average payout of $28,526. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 10 claims averaging 4 inches of water depth and $27,293 in payouts, and standard Zone X properties recorded 23 claims averaging 1 inch of water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated high-risk flood zones and unshaded moderate-to-low risk areas should pay close attention to these historical claim patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
22% of Seminole County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
45 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 2002, with 20 claims and $583,313 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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Seminole County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Mar 26, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 14, 1998 |
| Tornadoes, Flooding Torrential Rain(trop Storm Alberto) | Jul 3, 1994 |
| Drought | Jul 20, 1977 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
22 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 22, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Nov 10, 2022 | $3,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 16, 2021 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2020 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Oct 10, 2018 | $300.0M · 1 killed |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 10, 2017 | $150,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastat…
Flood · May 22, 2023. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms produced pockets of heavy rain across the area. Amounts of 3 to 5 inches in resulted in minor flooding in a few areas.
Tropical Storm · Nov 10, 2022. Tropical Storm Nicole moved across the Florida Peninsula and turned northwestward, moving across the Florida Big Bend into southern Georgia. Wind and rain impacts were relatively minimal. No flooding was reported, and wind damage consisted mainly of a few trees down with sporadic power outages.
Tropical Storm · Aug 16, 2021. After moving across the Greater Antilles and weakening, the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred strengthened into a tropical storm once again in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall near Cape San Blas with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph on August 16th. The storm brought flooding and strong winds to numerous areas of the tri-state region. Rainfall amounts were generally in the 3 to 9 inch range with the highest am…
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 Seminole 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.