Natural hazards · Watergate

Watergate, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watergate comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1994.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Watergate?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watergate to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes47%Inland flooding42%Heat waves5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Watergate faces

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

Hurricanes

47% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailCold wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Watergate flood?

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

10paid claims since 1994

$281Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19942026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Irene: 3 claims, $5K
Hurricane Irma: 2 claims, $69K
Hurricane Wilma: 1 claim, $12K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Palm Beach County.

Disasters that hit Watergate

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WatergateDeclared for Palm Beach County only

Palm Beach County has had 31 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and freezes.

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. Watergate covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Watergate’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Watergate. 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 Watergate total about $1.2M 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.