Florida natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 21,506,751 · 67 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 41,178 storm events in Florida since 1950, 34,945 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 3,762 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events (15,159). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest storm in Florida is Hurricane Ian (September 28, 2022): 105 deaths, 8 injuries and $15 billion in damage in 2025 dollars across 30 records filed by several offices. FEMA has made 188 declarations for Florida since 1953, 181 for natural hazards; 86 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Florida each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 41,1781950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 1,4326,692 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $110.6Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 3,7621950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 18886 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in Florida?

By NOAA's records, Florida's most frequent hazards are severe thunderstorm wind events (15,159), hail reports (5,668), tornadoes (3,820); the deadliest are rip current and surf records (547 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

Florida: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Severe thunderstorm wind	15,159	4,365	40	331	$299M	67 of 67
Hail	5,668	831	0	8	$96M	67 of 67
Tornadoes	3,820	526	207	3,448	$8.9B	67 of 67
Floods	3,375	1,611	22	4	$6.6B	67 of 67
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	2,600	231	25	142	$3.2M	64 of 67
Hurricanes and tropical storms	2,247	1,005	352	941	$86.0B	67 of 67
Heavy rain	1,794	796	5	60	$36M	61 of 67
Lightning	1,777	326	178	1,002	$161M	64 of 67
Drought	1,514	838	0	0	$167M	42 of 67
Extreme cold	1,120	107	8	7	$2.0B	54 of 67
Rip currents and high surf	850	253	547	496	$40M	33 of 67
Wildfires	488	139	15	155	$882M	55 of 67
High wind and dust storms	315	96	18	32	$5.4B	58 of 67
Heat	294	232	15	64	–	38 of 67
Winter storms	156	76	0	2	$15M	42 of 67
Landslides and avalanches	1	0	0	0	$95K	1 of 67

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in Florida?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

Florida: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2022-09-28	Hurricane Ian · Hurricane (Typhoon)Lee County · forecast zone Coastal Lee One named storm filed by several offices: 30 records in 3 episodes, 2022-09-28 to 2022-09-30; the totals are the storm's. Hurricane Ian formed in the central Caribbean Sea on September 23 and moved through the western Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Western Atlantic making four separate landfalls. The first landfall was in the Pinar Del Rio Province of Cuba at 0830 UTC on September 27 with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and a ...		105	8	$15.5B
2017-09-09	Hurricane Irma · Tropical StormBroward County · forecast zone Metro Broward County One named storm filed by several offices: 88 records in 9 episodes, 2017-09-09 to 2017-10-15; the totals are the storm's. Major Hurricane Irma made landfall in Southwest Florida on Marco Island as a Category 3 hurricane around 330 PM EDT on September 10th. The storm traveled north through southwest Florida through the evening. Effects from Irma were felt across South Florida from September 9th through September 11th. Irma had reached ...		74	41	$5.5B
2018-10-10	Hurricane Michael · Hurricane (Typhoon)Bay County · forecast zone Coastal Bay One storm episode: 19 records in 11 places; the totals are the episode's. Hurricane Michael started as typical weak October Caribbean tropical system. However, after approximately a week of slow development, the system moved into warm Gulf of Mexico waters and rapidly intensified into a major hurricane as it moved north towards the Florida Panhandle. After a 2-day long intensification ...		52	0	$13.4B
1998-02-23	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Orlando, killed 25 (SPC) · TornadoIntercession City, Osceola County One storm episode: 10 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. The deadliest tornado of the outbreak was a category F3 that touched down initially one mile south of Intercession City. The tornado moved northeast at 45 mph and ripped through the town of Kissimmee killing 25 people. The hardest hit areas were the Morningside Acres mobile home community and the Ponderosa ...	F3 14 mi x 250 yd	42	259	$194M
1993-03-12	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Chiefland, killed 3 (SPC) · TornadoFlz001>023 Every tornado record filed in the state that day (3, in 3 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. Tornadoes, Thunderstorm Winds, Hail, Storm Surge, Flooding, Beach Erosion, SnowThe "Storm Of The Century" roared across Florida producing a variety of severe and unusual weather conditions for a period of about 18 hours from late Friday the 12th through late afternoon Saturday the 13th. A severe squall line raced ...		28	13	$3.4B
2024-10-09	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Hurricane Milton, killed 6 (SPC) · TornadoFt Pierce Nelson Arp, St. Lucie County One named storm filed by several offices: 43 records in 4 episodes, 2024-10-09 to 2024-11-03; the totals are the storm's. 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 ...	EF3 12.97 mi x 500 yd	22	3	$856M
2007-02-02	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, DeLand, killed 13 (SPC) · TornadoTurpentine, Lake County One storm episode: 4 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A series of powerful tornadoes swept across Sumter, Lake and Volusia counties during the early morning hours of February 2, 2007. A discontinuous swath of tornado damage was observed from near Wildwood in Sumter County to the town of Lady Lake (Lake County) to New Smyrna Beach (Volusia County). This was a distance of ...	EF3 12.74 mi x 400 yd	21	61	$222M
2004-09-13	Hurricane Frances · Hurricane (Typhoon)Escambia County · forecast zone Coastal Escambia One named storm filed by several offices: 24 records in 5 episodes, 2004-09-13 to 2004-09-15; the totals are the storm's. See the narrative on Hurricane Ivan under Alabama, Southwest, September 13-16 ,2004. Ivan will be remembered as one of the most damaging hurricanes to affect the extreme western Florida panhandle in modern history. The $4 billion in property damage is an estimate, but the final figure could be as low as $2.5 billion ...		19	16	$6.7B
2008-08-21	Tropical Storm Fay · Tropical StormDuval County · forecast zone Duval One named storm filed by several offices: 33 records in 8 episodes, 2008-08-21 to 2008-09-14; the totals are the storm's. Tropical Storm Fay moved slowly north out of Caribbean Sea, then cut across south and central Florida into the Atlantic Ocean. Fay then slowly curved west and made landfall in the vicinity for Flagler Beach and Daytona Beach on Aug 21st. As the storm made landfall sustained winds along the coast were between 40 and 50 ...		18	5	$73M
1962-03-31	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Milton, killed 17 (SPC) · TornadoSanta Rosa County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (4, in 4 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F3 6.9 mi x 440 yd	17	104	$2.5M step

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 direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in Florida

Florida: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Killed	Injured	Damage
2005-10-24	Hurricane (Typhoon)Palm Beach County · forecast zone Coastal Palm Beach	1	0	$15.1B
2022-09-28	Hurricane (Typhoon)Lee County · forecast zone Coastal Lee	60	0	$7.1B
2018-10-10	Hurricane (Typhoon)Bay County · forecast zone Coastal Bay	21	0	$7.1B
2004-09-13	Hurricane (Typhoon)Escambia County · forecast zone Coastal Escambia	6	0	$6.3B
2004-08-13	Hurricane (Typhoon)Charlotte County · forecast zone Charlotte	4	700	$4.9B
2004-09-04	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Lucie County · forecast zone St. Lucie	0	0	$4.0B
2004-08-13	Hurricane (Typhoon)Lee County · forecast zone Lee	1	30	$3.1B
2022-09-28	Hurricane (Typhoon)Charlotte County · forecast zone Coastal Charlotte	8	0	$3.0B

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: April 4, 1966 (tornado, Polk County, 8 killed); April 19, 1988 (tornado, Madison County, 4 killed); April 4, 1966 (tornado, Pinellas County, 3 killed); October 3, 1992 (tornado, Pinellas County, 3 killed); March 17, 1985 (tornado, Sarasota County, 2 killed).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in Florida have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in Florida

Billion-dollar disasters in Florida

NOAA counted 94 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected Florida, led by tropical cyclone (36). The most recent: Hurricane Milton (2024); Hurricane Helene (2024); Hurricane Francine (2024).

Florida: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Tropical Cyclone	36	$300.0B-$420.0B
Severe Storm	33	$5.0B-$10.0B
Drought	7	$1.0B-$2.0B
Freeze	5	$10.0B-$20.0B
Winter Storm	5	$2.0B-$5.0B
Flooding	4	$2.0B-$5.0B
Wildfire	4	$250M-$500M

Every one of the 94, newest first

Hurricane Milton2024
Hurricane Helene2024
Hurricane Francine2024
Hurricane Debby2024
Southern Derecho2024
Southern Severe Weather2024
Central, Southern, Southeastern Tornado Outbreak2024
Southern and Eastern Severe Weather2024
Central Tornado Outbreak and Eastern Severe Weather2024
Southern Severe Weather2024
Southern Tornado Outbreak and East Coast Storm2024
East Coast Storm and Flooding2023
Hurricane Idalia2023
Northeastern and Eastern Severe Weather2023
Central and Southern Severe Weather2023
Southern Severe Weather2023
Southern Severe Weather2023
Central and Southern Severe Weather2023
Fort Lauderdale Flash Flood2023
Hurricane Nicole2022
Hurricane Ian2022
Southeast Tornado Outbreak2022
Southern Tornado Outbreak2022
Hurricane Nicholas2021
Hurricane Ida2021
Tropical Storm Fred2021
Tropical Storm Elsa2021
Tropical Storm Eta2020
Hurricane Sally2020
Hurricane Isaias2020
South, Central and Eastern Severe Weather2020
Southern Severe Weather2020
Southeast and Eastern Tornado Outbreak2020
South, East and Northeast Severe Weather2020
Hurricane Dorian2019
Hurricane Michael2018
Southern and Eastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather2018
Southeastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather2018
Hurricane Irma2017
Southeast Severe Weather and Tornadoes2017
Southeast Freeze2017
Southern Tornado Outbreak and Western Storms2017
Hurricane Matthew2016
North/Central Texas Hail Storm2016
Southeast and Eastern Tornadoes2016
South and Southeast Severe Weather2015
South/Southeast Severe Weather2015
Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Tornadoes and Flooding2014
Hurricane Isaac2012
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Wildfires2011
Southern Plains/Southwest Drought and Heat Wave2011
U.S. Wildfires2008
Western/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave2007
Western Wildfires2007
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Numerous Wildfires2006
Hurricane Wilma2005
Hurricane Rita2005
Hurricane Katrina2005
Hurricane Dennis2005
Southeast Severe Weather2005
Hurricane Jeanne2004
Hurricane Ivan2004
Hurricane Frances2004
Hurricane Charley2004
Southern Derecho and Eastern Severe Weather2003
Tropical Storm Isidore2002
Tropical Storm Allison2001
South Florida Flooding2000
Western/Central/Southeast Drought/Heat Wave2000
Eastern Drought/Heat Wave1999
Oklahoma and Kansas Tornadoes1999
Central and Eastern Winter Storm1999
Hurricane Georges1998
Southern Drought and Heat Wave1998
Western/Eastern Severe Weather and Flooding1997
Hurricane Opal1995
Hurricane Erin1995
Tropical Storm Alberto1994
Southeast Drought and Heat Wave1993
East Coast Blizzard and Severe Weather1993
Hurricane Andrew1992
Severe Storms1992
Florida Freeze1989
Winter Storm, Cold Wave1989
Hurricane Juan1985
Hurricane Elena1985
Florida Freeze1985
Winter Storm, Cold Wave1985
Tornadoes, Severe Storms, Floods1984
Freeze/Cold Wave1983
Gulf States Storms and Flooding1982
Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Winter Storm, Cold Wave1982
Florida Freeze1981

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for Florida, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in Florida

FEMA has made 188 declarations for Florida since 1953: 86 major disasters, 35 emergencies and 67 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are fire (69), hurricane (59), severe storm (24).

1950s 1
1960s 7
1970s 11
1980s 10
1990s 50
2000s 52
2010s 21
2020s 36

The 15 most recent declarations in Florida
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-04-23	FM-5632	Fire	Cow Creek Fire	1
2026-04-22	FM-5631	Fire	Railroad Complex Fire	2
2024-11-05	DR-4844	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	7
2024-10-11	DR-4834	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	52
2024-10-08	EM-3623	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	7
2024-10-07	EM-3622	Hurricane	Hurricane Milton	51
2024-09-28	DR-4828	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	47
2024-09-24	EM-3615	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Helene	41
2024-08-10	DR-4806	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Debby	61
2024-08-03	EM-3605	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Debby	61
2024-06-17	DR-4794	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	13
2023-08-31	DR-4734	Hurricane	Hurricane Idalia	49
2023-08-28	EM-3596	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Idalia	49
2023-04-27	DR-4709	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	1
2022-12-13	DR-4680	Hurricane	Hurricane Nicole	63

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in Florida

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $19 billion on 447,174 claims in 67 Florida counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across Florida's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates Florida's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Very High 1
Relatively High 20
Relatively Moderate 18
Relatively Low 20
Very Low 8

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