Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Bell
Bell isn’t graded for hazard risk: Bell has 563 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Bell faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Hurricanes
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.
Does Bell flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bell. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bell isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Gilchrist County.9 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Bell
Disasters that paid out in Bell itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Bell), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Helene397 households applied for aid$569K aid approved
- 2024Hurricane Debby147 households applied for aid$130K aid approved
- 2023Hurricane Idalia337 households applied for aid$341K aid approved
- 2017Hurricane Irma376 households applied for aid$129K aid approved
- 2012Tropical Storm Debby13 households applied for aid$5K aid approved
- 2009Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-line Winds20 households applied for aid$25K aid approved
Show all 9
- 2004Hurricane Jeanne134 households applied for aid$261K aid approved$4K to the Town of Bell for repairs
- 2004Hurricane Ivan2 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Frances133 households applied for aid$221K aid approved$6K to the Town of Bell for repairs
Gilchrist County has had 25 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 2 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Gilchrist County, 1999–2000.
Old photos of Bell after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Bell archive →Get ready for what Bell faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Bell
Is Bell 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 Gilchrist County, 18% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 2.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Bell?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bell’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Bell?
By FEMA money that reached Bell, Hurricane Helene (2024): 397 households applied for aid, $569K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bell.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bell’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.