Natural hazards · Memphis

Memphis, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Memphis comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 188 claims here since 1981. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Memphis?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Memphis to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes62%Inland flooding12%Coastal flooding11%Tornadoes11%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Memphis faces

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

Hurricanes

62% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 7% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Coastal flooding

11% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% 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 Memphis flood?

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

188paid claims since 1981

$15.4Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 149 claims, $14.6M
Blizzard of 1993: 13 claims, $148K
Hurricane Milton: 5 claims, $271K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Manatee County.

Disasters that hit Memphis

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MemphisDeclared for Manatee County only

2017

Hurricane Irma

3 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Manatee County has had 43 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Memphis

Memphis and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ellentonmostly hurricanesVery high

Memphismostly hurricanesVery high

Palmettomostly 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. Memphis covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Memphis’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Memphis. 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 Memphis total about $1.4M 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.