Okaloosa County, Florida

What hazards hit Okaloosa County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 276 since 1961. 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 Okaloosa County had?

NOAA records 100 tornadoes in Okaloosa County from 1958 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 4 deaths and 124 injuries recorded in the county. That is 13th of 67 Florida counties and 64th 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 106 tornadoes whose track touched Okaloosa County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 100: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 4 people.

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 Okaloosa County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 31, 2024 rip current (1 death).

A 40 year old male visitor drowned after he and his juvenile son were swept out into the Gulf of Mexico by a rip current. Both father and son were taken to the hospital. The son was reportedly in stable condition, but the father did not survive. The drowning occurred at James Lee Park in Destin.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1212563)

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

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

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 Okaloosa 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).

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

What time of year?

Records by month in Okaloosa County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Okaloosa County

FEMA's register lists 41 declarations that include Okaloosa County: 28 major disasters, 13 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (24) and severe storm (6).

The 40 most recent of 41 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 Okaloosa County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 72 flood or flash flood records for Okaloosa County from 1997 to 2025, on 52 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Okaloosa County ranks 64th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $283 million on 8,226 claims filed in Okaloosa County; the most in one year was 2,949 in 1995. 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 Okaloosa County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Okaloosa County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $134 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 Okaloosa County

1. Walton County 829
2. Santa Rosa County 733
3. Okaloosa County 665
4. Covington County, AL 451
5. Escambia County, AL 365

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 Okaloosa CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Okaloosa County's FEMA declarations (CSV)41 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis