Natural hazards · Sawgrass

Sawgrass, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sawgrass comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 2008. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sawgrass?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sawgrass to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding63%Hurricanes25%Tornadoes6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Sawgrass faces

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

Inland flooding

63% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailCold 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 Sawgrass flood?

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

12paid claims since 2008

$1.4Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20082026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irma: 6 claims, $1.2M
Tropical Storm Fay: 1 claim, $16K
Hurricane Matthew: 1 claim, $148K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Johns County.

Disasters that hit Sawgrass

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SawgrassDeclared for St. Johns County only

2017

Hurricane Irma

2 households applied for aid

St. Johns County has had 25 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

Around Sawgrass

Sawgrass and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Palm Valleymostly inland floodingHigh

Sawgrassmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Sawgrass covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sawgrass’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Sawgrass. 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 Sawgrass total about $2.1M 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.