Natural hazards · Hillcrest Heights

Hillcrest Heights, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hillcrest Heights comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hillcrest Heights?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hillcrest Heights to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes42%Inland flooding36%Strong wind8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Hillcrest Heights faces

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

Hurricanes

42% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% 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 Hillcrest Heights flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Hillcrest Heights.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Hillcrest Heights 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 Hillcrest Heights

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Hillcrest Heights itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Hillcrest Heights.

Brought FEMA money into Hillcrest HeightsDeclared for Polk County only

2017

Hurricane Irma

2 households applied for aid

2004

Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley

$23K to the Town of Hillcrest Heights for repairs

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

Around Hillcrest Heights

Hillcrest Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Babson Parkmostly hurricanesHigh

Hillcrest Heightsmostly hurricanesHigh

Frostproofmostly hurricanesHigh

Crooked Lake Parkmostly hurricanesModerate

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. Hillcrest Heights 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 Hillcrest Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Hillcrest Heights. 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.