Brevard County, Florida

What hazards hit Brevard County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 428 since 1960. 41% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Florida's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Brevard County had?

NOAA records 139 tornadoes in Brevard County from 1953 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 144 injuries recorded in the county. That is 8th of 67 Florida counties and 23rd of 3,080 U.S. counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 141 tornadoes whose track touched Brevard County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 139: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Florida.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Brevard County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 2, 2026 rip current (1 death and 1 injury).

A 17-year old male and a 12-year old male were swimming at Cocoa Beach when they were caught in a rip current. The 12-year old was rescued and transported to the hospital in critical condition. The 17-year old was later found submerged and unresponsive. The teen was later pronounced deceased.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1322710)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Brevard County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Hurricanes and tropical storms in the 2020-26: 37 records against 10 in the decade before, 37 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Brevard County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

41% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Brevard County

FEMA's register lists 45 declarations that include Brevard County: 26 major disasters, 15 emergencies and 4 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (24) and fire (6).

The 40 most recent of 45 are listed; the CSV has every one.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Brevard County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 37 flood or flash flood records for Brevard County from 1996 to 2025, on 27 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Brevard County ranks 87th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $69.1 million on 5,690 claims filed in Brevard County; the most in one year was 1,362 in 2008. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Brevard County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Brevard County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $389 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Brevard County

1. Brevard County 1,127
2. Orange County 780
3. Volusia County 779
4. Seminole County 391
5. Osceola County 297
6. Indian River County 272

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in FloridaEvery Florida tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in FloridaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Florida recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Brevard CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Brevard County's FEMA declarations (CSV)45 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis