Santa Rosa County, Florida: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Santa Rosa County, Florida has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 89.0 out of 100, higher than about 89% of US counties, with hurricanes, lightning and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $101 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 43 federal disaster declarations that included Santa Rosa County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4955-FL (Hurricane Isaias, declared 27 October 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 79 tornadoes touching Santa Rosa County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 187,714 Buildings worth $29 billion Area 1,235 sq mi Risk rank in Florida 32 of 67 FIPS 12113
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 | 97.2 | $61 million | about once every 4.1 years | 94 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 95.3 | $2.5 million | about 85 a year | 369,375 strikes |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 89.6 | $9.0 million | about once every 1.3 years | 57 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 86.9 | $3.1 million | about 9 a year | 120 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 81.3 | $607,818 | about once every 403 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 73.7 | $20 million | about 1.6 a year | 45 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 70.8 | $1.5 million | about 3.8 a year | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 66.9 | $2.4 million | about once every 1.4 years | 11 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 51.0 | $378,136 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 44.3 | $127,004 | about 14 a year | 378 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 37.7 | $54,175 | about once every 1.8 years | 8.9 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 37.4 | $210,947 | about 1.2 a year | 50 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 32.7 | $495 | about once every 6.8 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 29.2 | $371,124 | about 1.8 a year | 64 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 21.9 | $24,954 | about once every 12 years | 5 |
| Avalanche | 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 43
Most common: Hurricane 25, Severe Storm 7, Flood 5, Tropical Storm 4.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×3, Hurricane |
| 1990s | 9 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm ×2, Flood ×2, Fire |
| 2000s | 9 | Hurricane ×7, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2010s | 8 | Hurricane ×6, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2020s | 13 | Hurricane ×7, Tropical Storm ×4, Severe Storm, Fire |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Santa Rosa 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 Isaias (2026), Hurricane Helene (2024), Tropical Storm Helene (2024), Hurricane Debby (2024), Tropical Storm Debby (2024), Hurricane Ian (2022), Tropical Storm Ian (2022), Tropical Storm Fred (2021), Hurricane Sally (2020), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Nate (2017), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Isaac (2012), Tropical Storm Debby (2012), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Tropical Storm Fay (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Frances (2004), Tropical Storm Bonnie (2004), Hurricane Georges (1998), Hurricane Grorges (1998), Hurricane Opal (1995), Hurricane Erin (1995), Tropical Storm Alberto (1994), Hurricane Frederic (1979).
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 79
| Tornadoes touching the county | 79 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | March (16) |
| Deadliest | 31 Mar 1962, F3, 6.9 mi path, 17 killed, 100 injured |
| Longest path | 26 May 1973, F2, 105.4 mi path, 1 killed, 4 injured |
| Most recent | 4 Mar 2025, EF0, 0.3 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 18 / 114 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 40 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 4 | 10 |
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 Santa Rosa County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Rosa County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 89.0 | Hurricane |
| Escambia County | 35 km | Relatively High | 95.1 | Lightning |
| Okaloosa County | 40 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.5 | Lightning |
| Escambia County, AL | 46 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.0 | Hurricane |
| Baldwin County, AL | 67 km | Relatively High | 96.7 | Hurricane |
| Conecuh County, AL | 78 km | Very Low | 31.1 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Florida, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 12.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 54.7 |
| Community risk factor | 0.80 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $101 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 Santa Rosa 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
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Florida
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- 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 Santa Rosa County
What natural disasters is Santa Rosa County, Florida most at risk from?
Santa Rosa County, Florida has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 89.0 out of 100, higher than about 89% of US counties, with hurricanes, lightning and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $101 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Santa Rosa County had?
OpenFEMA lists 43 federal disaster declarations that included Santa Rosa County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4955-FL (Hurricane Isaias, declared 27 October 2026). Another 31 Florida declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Santa Rosa County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 79 tornadoes touching Santa Rosa County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 31 Mar 1962, F3, 6.9 mi path, 17 killed, 100 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.