Monroe County, Florida: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Monroe County, Florida has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 91.6 out of 100, higher than about 91% of US counties, with coastal flooding, hurricanes and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $93 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 45 federal disaster declarations that included Monroe County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4834-FL (Hurricane Milton, declared 11 October 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 83 tornadoes touching Monroe County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Florida All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 82,390 Buildings worth $20 billion Area 5,343 sq mi Risk rank in Florida 28 of 67 FIPS 12087
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal flooding | Very High | 98.8 | $21 million | about 2.3 a year | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 98.0 | $65 million | about once every 3.4 years | 191 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 87.1 | $905,745 | about 101 a year | 250,763 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 65.8 | $667,927 | about 4.1 a year | 9.2 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 61.9 | $85,164 | about once every 314 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 42.9 | $4.7 million | about once every 1.9 years | 15 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 32.4 | $284,468 | about once every 1.7 years | 8 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 25.6 | $337,670 | about 1.1 a year | 61 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 18.0 | $81 | about once every 11 years | — |
| Hail | Very Low | 16.8 | $51,533 | about once every 2.3 years | 24 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 6.4 | $5,417 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 4.1 | $6,229 | about once a year | 3.8 |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | about 5.7 a year | 182 |
| Winter weather | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Ice storm | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 45
Most common: Hurricane 26, Severe Storm 6, Fire 4, Tropical Storm 3.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1970s | 2 | Freezing, Coastal Storm |
| 1980s | 1 | Human Cause |
| 1990s | 12 | Hurricane ×5, Fire ×3, Severe Storm ×2, Tornado, Freezing |
| 2000s | 14 | Hurricane ×9, Severe Storm ×3, Fire, Freezing |
| 2010s | 5 | Hurricane ×5 |
| 2020s | 10 | Hurricane ×6, Tropical Storm ×3, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Monroe County
- Hurricane Ian (2022, DR-4673-FL): 67 Florida counties designated.
- Tropical Storm Ian (2022, EM-3584-FL): 67 Florida counties designated.
- Hurricane Dorian (2019, EM-3419-FL): 67 Florida counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Milton (2024), Hurricane Helene (2024), Tropical Storm Helene (2024), Hurricane Debby (2024), Tropical Storm Debby (2024), Hurricane Ian (2022), Tropical Storm Ian (2022), Tropical Storm Elsa (2021), Hurricane Isaias (2020), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Matthew (2016), Hurricane Isaac (2012), Hurricane Ike (2008), Tropical Storm Fay (2008), Hurricane Wilma (2005), Tropical Storm Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Frances (2004), Tropical Storm Bonnie (2004), Hurricane Irene (1999), Tropical Storm Irene (1999), Tropical Storm Mitch (1998), Hurricane Georges (1998), Hurricane Grorges (1998), Hurricane Andrew (1992), Tropical Storm Agnes (1972), Hurricane Betsy (1965).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Florida also had 31 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 83
| Tornadoes touching the county | 83 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×6 |
| Peak month | June (18) |
| Deadliest | 18 Jun 1972, F2, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 40 injured |
| Longest path | 4 Nov 1998, F2, 12 mi path, 0 killed, 20 injured |
| Most recent | 8 Oct 2024, EF1, 0.3 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 71 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 56 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 8 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Monroe County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 91.6 | Coastal flooding |
| Miami-Dade County | 52 km | Very High | 99.6 | Hurricane |
| Collier County | 82 km | Relatively High | 98.9 | Hurricane |
| Broward County | 98 km | Relatively High | 99.5 | Lightning |
| Hendry County | 125 km | Relatively Low | 78.7 | Lightning |
| Palm Beach County | 146 km | Relatively High | 99.2 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Florida, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 53.9 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 29.4 |
| Community risk factor | 1.18 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $93 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Monroe County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Florida · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Florida
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Monroe County
What natural disasters is Monroe County, Florida most at risk from?
Monroe County, Florida has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 91.6 out of 100, higher than about 91% of US counties, with coastal flooding, hurricanes and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $93 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Monroe County had?
OpenFEMA lists 45 federal disaster declarations that included Monroe County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4834-FL (Hurricane Milton, declared 11 October 2024). Another 31 Florida declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Monroe County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 83 tornadoes touching Monroe County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 18 Jun 1972, F2, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 40 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.