Photo: Astrophobe · CC BY-SA 4.0Bear Creek’s building-damage rate from coastal flooding is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bear Creek gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 56% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (48%), then river and rain flooding (31%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Bear Creek faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
River and rain flooding
Coastal flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
What’s behind Bear Creek’s grade
Hurricanes are 48% of the building damage FEMA expects in Bear Creek, and Bear Creek’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts. Coastal flooding adds 16%, at a rate in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts.
C+ higher expected damage per building than 56% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Bear Creek’s residents live in 3 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $566K a year in losses across Bear Creek: $411K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Bear Creek flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bear Creek. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bear Creek isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Pinellas County.The storms Bear Creek remembers
None of the 32 disasters declared for Pinellas County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Bear Creek itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Pinellas County has had 32 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 3 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Pinellas County, 1999–2001.
Bear Creek and its neighbors
Bear Creek is 2nd of the 4 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gulfport | B−more damage than 52% | hurricanes | 629 |
| Bear Creek | C+more damage than 56% | hurricanes | 0 |
| South Pasadena | C+more damage than 59% | hurricanes | 378 |
| St. Petersburg | C+more damage than 61% | hurricanes | 13,766 |
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Bear Creek faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Bear Creek
Is Bear Creek at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bear Creek has higher expected damage per building than 56% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (48%) and river and rain flooding (31%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Bear Creek in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Pinellas County, 19.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Bear Creek?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bear Creek’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Bear Creek at risk from hurricanes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (48%), and Bear Creek’s rate for it is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bear Creek.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bear Creek’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.