Natural hazards · Oriole Beach

Oriole Beach, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Oriole Beach comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1,023 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Oriole Beach?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Oriole Beach to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes64%Inland flooding14%Tornadoes9%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Oriole Beach faces

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

Hurricanes

64% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 11% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Oriole Beach flood?

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

1,023paid claims since 1979

$73.7Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ivan: 616 claims, $61.3M
Hurricane Sally: 89 claims, $3.5M
Hurricane Opal: 82 claims, $963K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Oriole 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: Santa Rosa County.

Disasters that hit Oriole Beach

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Santa Rosa County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Oriole Beach itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Oriole BeachDeclared for Santa Rosa County only

Santa Rosa County has had 36 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Oriole Beach

Oriole Beach and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Oriole Beachmostly hurricanesVery high

Midwaymostly hurricanesVery high

Tiger Pointmostly hurricanesVery high

Gulf Breezemostly 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. Oriole Beach covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Oriole Beach’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Oriole 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 Oriole Beach total about $2.7M 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.