Natural hazards · Butler Beach

Butler Beach, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Butler Beach comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 914 claims here since 1990. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Butler Beach?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Butler Beach to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding33%Hurricanes28%Coastal flooding24%Tornadoes10%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Butler Beach faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Coastal flooding

24% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailCold 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 Butler Beach flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Butler Beach, from FEMA’s records.

914paid claims since 1990

$39.2Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19902026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Matthew: 566 claims, $29.1M
Hurricane Irma: 137 claims, $5.0M
Hurricane Ian: 87 claims, $3.6M

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Johns County.

Disasters that hit Butler Beach

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Butler Beach itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Butler Beach.

Brought FEMA money into Butler BeachDeclared for St. Johns County only

2017

Hurricane Irma

1 household applied for aid

2016

Hurricane Matthew

2 households applied for aid

St. Johns County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Butler Beach

Butler Beach and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Crescent Beachmostly inland floodingHigh

Butler Beachmostly inland floodingModerate

St. Augustine Beachmostly inland floodingLow

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. Butler Beach covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Butler Beach’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Butler Beach. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Butler Beach total about $1.8M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.