Photo: OhanaUnitedTalk page · CC BY-SA 4.0For coastal flooding, Feather Sound’s building-damage rate is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Feather Sound gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns, #85 of 638 in Florida. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (46%), then river and rain flooding (28%). 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 Feather Sound 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 Feather Sound’s grade
Hurricanes are 46% of the building damage FEMA expects in Feather Sound, and Feather Sound’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts. Coastal flooding adds 20%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
C+ #85 of 638 in Florida; higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Feather Sound’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical Florida town has higher expected damage than 79% of U.S. towns; within the state, Feather Sound has less expected damage per building than 87% of Florida towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.0M a year in losses across Feather Sound: $1.7M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Feather Sound flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Feather Sound. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Feather Sound 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 Feather Sound remembers
None of the 32 disasters declared for Pinellas County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Feather Sound 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.
Feather Sound and its neighbors
Feather Sound has the lowest expected damage per building of the 2 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feather Sound | C+more damage than 60% | hurricanes | 0 |
| 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 Feather Sound 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 Feather Sound
Is Feather Sound at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Feather Sound has higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk, #85 of 638 in Florida. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (46%) and river and rain flooding (28%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Feather Sound 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 Feather Sound?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Feather Sound’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Feather Sound at risk from hurricanes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (46%), and Feather Sound’s rate for it is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Feather Sound.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Feather Sound’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.