Punta Gorda Fish Company Ice House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0FEMA puts Pine Island Center’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 92% of U.S. towns, mostly from hurricanes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Pine Island Center gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (64%), then coastal flooding (21%). 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 Pine Island Center faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
Coastal flooding
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.
What’s behind Pine Island Center’s grade
Hurricanes are 64% of the building damage FEMA expects in Pine Island Center, and Pine Island Center’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts. Coastal flooding adds 21%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
D higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Pine Island Center’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.1M a year in losses across Pine Island Center: $946K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Pine Island Center flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Pine Island Center. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Pine Island Center isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Lee County.The storms Pine Island Center remembers
None of the 30 disasters declared for Lee County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Pine Island Center itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Lee County has had 30 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 4 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Lee County, 1999–2017.
Pine Island Center and its neighbors
Pine Island Center has the lowest expected damage per building of the 3 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Island Center | Dmore damage than 92% | hurricanes | 0 |
| Bokeelia | Dmore damage than 92% | hurricanes | 737 |
| St. James City | Dmore damage than 94% | hurricanes | 869 |
| Pineland | — | 455 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 Pine Island Center 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Pine Island Center
Is Pine Island Center at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Pine Island Center has higher expected damage per building than 92% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (64%) and coastal flooding (21%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Pine Island Center 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 Lee County, 47% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 24.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Pine Island Center?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Pine Island Center’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Pine Island Center at risk from hurricanes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (64%), and Pine Island Center’s rate for it is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Pine Island Center.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Pine Island Center’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.