Natural hazards · Siesta Key

Siesta Key, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Siesta Key comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2,626 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Siesta Key?

90
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Siesta Key to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and coastal flooding.

Hurricanes58%Coastal flooding29%Inland flooding10%Everything else4%
By hazard

What Siesta Key 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

Coastal flooding

29% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

10% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 5% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year 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 Siesta Key flood?

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

2,626paid claims since 1979
$254Mpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Helene: 1,740 claims, $237M
  • Hurricane Milton: 256 claims, $5.9M
  • The 'No-Name Storm': 128 claims, $596K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Siesta Key isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Sarasota County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3homes raised above flood level
Disasters that hit Siesta Key

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Siesta KeyDeclared for Sarasota County only
2024

Hurricane Milton

59 households applied for aid $195K aid approved
2024

Hurricane Helene

75 households applied for aid $457K aid approved
2024

Hurricane Debby

7 households applied for aid $45K aid approved
2022

Hurricane Ian

14 households applied for aid $26K aid approved
2017

Hurricane Irma

13 households applied for aid $3K aid approved
Sarasota County has had 41 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.
Around Siesta Key

Siesta Key and the towns around it

Sarasota: Very high, mostly hurricanesSouth Sarasota: Very high, mostly hurricanesNorth Sarasota: Very high, mostly hurricanesSouthgate: Very high, mostly hurricanesFruitville: Very high, mostly hurricanesRidge Wood Heights: Very high, mostly hurricanesSiesta Key: Very high, mostly hurricanes Siesta KeySarasotaSouth Sarasota
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Siesta Keymostly hurricanesVery high
South Sarasotamostly hurricanesVery high
Sarasotamostly 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. Siesta Key covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Siesta Key’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Siesta Key. 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 Siesta Key total about $6.5M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01