Natural hazards · Cypress Gardens

Cypress Gardens, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cypress Gardens comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cypress Gardens?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cypress Gardens to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes45%Inland flooding31%Strong wind12%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Cypress Gardens faces

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

Hurricanes

45% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingIce stormsWinter weatherAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Cypress Gardens flood?

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

16paid claims since 1979

$208Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Jeanne: 4 claims, $13K
Hurricane Ian: 4 claims, $105K
Hurricane Frances: 2 claims, $21K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Polk County.

Disasters that hit Cypress Gardens

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Cypress GardensDeclared for Polk County only

2024

Hurricane Milton

3 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2022

Hurricane Ian

9 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

2017

Hurricane Irma

2 households applied for aid

2004

Hurricane Jeanne

1 household applied for aid $85 aid approved

2004

Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley

1 household applied for aid

Polk County has had 34 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and fires.

Around Cypress Gardens

Cypress Gardens and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cypress Gardensmostly hurricanesHigh

Winter Havenmostly hurricanesHigh

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. Cypress Gardens covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Cypress Gardens’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cypress Gardens. 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 Cypress Gardens total about $3.2M 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.