Natural hazards · Big Pine Key

Big Pine Key, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Big Pine Key comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Big Pine Key?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Big Pine Key to be higher than in 98% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and coastal flooding.

Hurricanes57%Coastal flooding37%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Big Pine Key faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Hurricanes

57% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Coastal flooding

37% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

Inland floodingTornadoesHailCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Ice stormsWinter weatherDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Big Pine Key flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Big Pine Key.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Big Pine Key isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Monroe County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

209buildings retrofitted against wind

5homes raised above flood level

4flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Big Pine Key

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Big Pine Key itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Big Pine Key.

Brought FEMA money into Big Pine KeyDeclared for Monroe County only

2024

Hurricane Milton

1 household applied for aid

2022

Hurricane Ian

76 households applied for aid $55K aid approved

2017

Hurricane Irma

3,052 households applied for aid $10.6M aid approved

2005

Hurricane Wilma

1,148 households applied for aid $1.2M aid approved

2004

Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley

5 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

Monroe County has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Big Pine Key is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Big Pine Key’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Big Pine Key. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.