Photo: Steve Davis · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Panacea
Panacea isn’t graded for hazard risk: Panacea has 894 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Panacea 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
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 Panacea flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Panacea. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Panacea isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Wakulla County.7 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Panacea
Disasters that paid out in Panacea itself (aid to households or repair grants to Panacea), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Helene94 households applied for aid$163K aid approved
- 2018Hurricane Michael285 households applied for aid$407K aid approved
- 2016Hurricane Hermine20 households applied for aid$6K aid approved
- 2012Tropical Storm Debby142 households applied for aid$180K aid approved
- 2008Tropical Storm Fay4 households applied for aid$13K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Dennis275 households applied for aid$275K aid approved
Show all 7
- 2004Hurricane Ivan2 households applied for aid$7K aid approved
Wakulla County has had 33 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 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Wakulla County, 1999–1999.
Old photos of Panacea after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Panacea archive →Get ready for what Panacea 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.
- 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 Panacea
Is Panacea 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 Wakulla County, 30% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 8.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Panacea?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Panacea’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 Panacea?
By FEMA money that reached Panacea, Hurricane Michael (2018): 285 households applied for aid, $407K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Panacea.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Panacea’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.