Natural hazards · Paxton

Paxton, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Paxton comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Paxton?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Paxton to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes58%Inland flooding19%Tornadoes12%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Paxton faces

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

Hurricanes

58% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Paxton flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Walton County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Paxton

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PaxtonDeclared for Walton County only

2013

Severe Storms and Flooding

$8K to the Town of Paxton for repairs

2009

Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

2 households applied for aid $4K aid approved $6K to the Town of Paxton for repairs

2005

Hurricane Dennis

4 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

39 households applied for aid $91K aid approved $15K to the Town of Paxton for repairs

Walton County has had 34 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

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