Old Collier County Courthouse · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Everglades
Everglades isn’t graded for hazard risk: Everglades has 200 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Everglades 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
Wildfire
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 Everglades flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Everglades. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Everglades isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Collier County.8 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Everglades
Disasters that paid out in Everglades itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Everglades), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Milton$274K to the City of Everglades for repairs
- 2022Hurricane Ian6 households applied for aid$645K to the City of Everglades for repairs
- 2017Hurricane Irma11 households applied for aid$43K aid approved$1.7M to the City of Everglades for repairs
- 2012Hurricane Isaac$15K to the City of Everglades for repairs
- 2012Tropical Storm Debby$8K to the City of Everglades for repairs
- 2008Tropical Storm Fay$374K to the City of Everglades for repairs
Show all 8
- 2005Hurricane Wilma3 households applied for aid$8K aid approved$3.3M to the City of Everglades for repairs
- 1999Tropical Storm Irene - Florida$4K to the City of Everglades for repairs
Collier County has had 36 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 7 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Collier County, 1999–2020.
Old photos of Everglades after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Everglades archive →Everglades and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plantation Island | — | 43 residents; we grade 1,000+ | |
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 Everglades 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.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- 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 Everglades
Is Everglades 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 Collier County, 29.6% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Everglades?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Everglades’ 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 Everglades?
By FEMA money that reached Everglades, Hurricane Wilma (2005): 3 households applied for aid, $8K approved, and $3.3M to the City of Everglades for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Everglades.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Everglades’ 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.