Natural hazards · Key Largo

Key Largo, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Key Largo comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 680 claims here since 1984. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Key Largo?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Key Largo to be higher than in 97% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and coastal flooding.

Hurricanes67%Coastal flooding23%Inland flooding6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Key Largo faces

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

Hurricanes

67% 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

23% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailCold 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 Key Largo flood?

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

680paid claims since 1984

$19.2Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19842026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irma: 293 claims, $13.0M
Hurricane Wilma: 213 claims, $4.3M
Hurricane Irene: 64 claims, $429K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Key Largo 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

5buildings retrofitted against wind

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Key Largo

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Key LargoDeclared for Monroe County only

2024

Hurricane Milton

2 households applied for aid

2022

Hurricane Ian

141 households applied for aid $146K aid approved

2017

Hurricane Irma

5,327 households applied for aid $7.9M aid approved

2005

Hurricane Wilma

1,023 households applied for aid $885K aid approved

2004

Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley

34 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

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

Around Key Largo

Key Largo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Key Largomostly hurricanesVery high

North Key Largomostly hurricanesVery high

Taverniermostly hurricanesVery high

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. Key Largo covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Key Largo’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Key Largo. 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 Key Largo total about $7.5M 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.