Natural hazards · Whitfield

Whitfield, FL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Whitfield comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 50 claims here since 1981. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Whitfield?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Hurricanes55%Inland flooding30%Tornadoes10%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Whitfield faces

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

Hurricanes

55% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% 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 Whitfield flood?

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

50paid claims since 1981

$5.5Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 32 claims, $5.2M
Hurricane Hermine: 3 claims, $106K
Hurricane Milton: 2 claims, $19K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Manatee County.

Disasters that hit Whitfield

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WhitfieldDeclared for Manatee County only

2017

Hurricane Irma

1 household applied for aid

Manatee County has had 43 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. Whitfield covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Whitfield’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Whitfield. 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 Whitfield total about $2.6M 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.