Okeechobee County, Florida: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Okeechobee County, Florida has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 80.3 out of 100, higher than about 80% of US counties, with hurricanes, strong winds and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $27 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 33 federal disaster declarations that included Okeechobee County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4834-FL (Hurricane Milton, declared 11 October 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 26 tornadoes touching Okeechobee County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 39,455 Buildings worth $6.8 billion Area 901 sq mi Risk rank in Florida 40 of 67 FIPS 12093
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 93.5 | $9.6 million | about once every 3.3 years | 101 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 90.4 | $1.3 million | about once every 1.6 years | 22 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 89.9 | $854,988 | about once every 126 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 89.7 | $727,069 | about 94 a year | 153,766 strikes |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 80.3 | $12 million | about once every 4.7 years | 6 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 57.0 | $771,798 | about 2.7 a year | 52 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 48.6 | $81,936 | about 23 a year | 693 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 46.5 | $194,540 | about 2.7 a year | 37 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 44.2 | $638,209 | about once every 1.7 years | 13 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 23.3 | $102 | about once every 13 years | — |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 22.9 | $22,622 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hail | Very Low | 12.6 | $25,589 | about 1.3 a year | 49 |
| Coastal flooding | No Rating | 0.0 | — | about once every 83 years | — |
| Winter weather | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Ice storm | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 33
Most common: Hurricane 18, Fire 5, Tropical Storm 3, Severe Storm 3.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Freezing, Coastal Storm |
| 1990s | 7 | Fire ×3, Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm, Freezing |
| 2000s | 11 | Hurricane ×6, Severe Storm ×2, Fire ×2, Freezing |
| 2010s | 4 | Hurricane ×4 |
| 2020s | 9 | Hurricane ×6, Tropical Storm ×3 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Okeechobee 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 Debby (2024), Tropical Storm Debby (2024), Hurricane Nicole (2022), Tropical Storm Nicole (2022), Hurricane Ian (2022), Tropical Storm Ian (2022), Hurricane Isaias (2020), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Matthew (2016), Tropical Storm Fay (2008), Hurricane Wilma (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Jeanne (2004), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Frances (2004), Tropical Storm Bonnie (2004), Hurricane Irene (1999), Tropical Storm Irene (1999), Tropical Storm Agnes (1972).
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 26
| Tornadoes touching the county | 26 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×6 |
| Peak month | June (6) |
| Deadliest | 26 Sep 1982, F2, 4 mi path, 1 killed, 7 injured |
| Longest path | 9 Oct 2024, EF1, 17.1 mi path |
| Most recent | 9 Oct 2024, EF2, 8.5 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 27 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 12 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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 Okeechobee County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okeechobee County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 80.3 | Hurricane |
| Indian River County | 41 km | Relatively High | 95.6 | Hurricane |
| St. Lucie County | 42 km | Relatively High | 96.1 | Hurricane |
| Highlands County | 44 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.4 | Strong wind |
| Glades County | 62 km | Relatively Low | 48.0 | Wildfire |
| Martin County | 63 km | Relatively Moderate | 94.1 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Florida, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 87.9 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 3.0 |
| Community risk factor | 1.68 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $27 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 Okeechobee County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Florida · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- 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 Okeechobee County
What natural disasters is Okeechobee County, Florida most at risk from?
Okeechobee County, Florida has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 80.3 out of 100, higher than about 80% of US counties, with hurricanes, strong winds and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $27 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Okeechobee County had?
OpenFEMA lists 33 federal disaster declarations that included Okeechobee County since 1972, 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 Okeechobee County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 26 tornadoes touching Okeechobee County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 26 Sep 1982, F2, 4 mi path, 1 killed, 7 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.