Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Cedar Key
Cedar Key isn’t graded for hazard risk: Cedar Key has 875 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 484 claims here since 1983.
What Cedar Key faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Coastal flooding
Hurricanes
River and rain 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.
Does Cedar Key flood? Yes: 484 flood claims since 1983
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Cedar Key, from FEMA’s records.
- Hurricane Helene118 claims · $13.9M
- The Blizzard of 199384 claims · $1.1M
- Hurricane Josephine77 claims · $945K
Cedar Key is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9) for its flood-proofing work.
Insurance rates: Levy County.11 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Cedar Key
Disasters that paid out in Cedar Key itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Cedar Key), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Milton2 households applied for aid$300 aid approved
- 2024Hurricane Helene352 households applied for aid$2.0M aid approved$3.1M to the City of Cedar Key for repairs118 flood claims paid for it, $13.9M
- 2024Hurricane Debby32 households applied for aid$21K aid approved$44K to the City of Cedar Key for repairs
- 2023Hurricane Idalia285 households applied for aid$897K aid approved$1.3M to the City of Cedar Key for repairs69 flood claims paid for it, $6.3M
- 2017Hurricane Irma67 households applied for aid$15K aid approved$57K to the City of Cedar Key for repairs
- 2016Hurricane Hermine187 households applied for aid$185K aid approved$322K to the City of Cedar Key for repairs63 flood claims paid for it, $3.8M
Show all 11
- 2012Tropical Storm Debby$60K to the City of Cedar Key for repairs3 flood claims paid that year
- 2005Hurricane Dennis$14K to the City of Cedar Key for repairs12 flood claims paid for it, $190K
- 2004Hurricane Jeanne40 households applied for aid$56K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Frances112 households applied for aid$164K aid approved$86K to the City of Cedar Key for repairs
- 2004Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley9 households applied for aid$8K aid approved
Levy County has had 31 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 Levy County, 1999–2026.
Old photos of Cedar Key after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Cedar Key archive →Get ready for what Cedar Key faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cedar Key residents get 05% off flood insurance.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Cedar Key
Does Cedar Key flood?
Flood insurance has paid 484 claims in Cedar Key since 1983, $27.7M in all. 83 properties have flooded more than once. The most claims came from Hurricane Helene (118).
Is Cedar Key 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 Levy County, 29% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 4.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Cedar Key?
Cedar Key is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9), which takes 05% off federal flood insurance policies for its flood-proofing work. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Cedar Key?
By FEMA money that reached Cedar Key, Hurricane Helene (2024): 352 households applied for aid, $2.0M approved, and $3.1M to the City of Cedar Key for repairs. By flood claims, Hurricane Helene: 118 paid, $13.9M.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Cedar Key.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Cedar Key’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.