Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Steinhatchee
Steinhatchee isn’t graded for hazard risk: Steinhatchee has 756 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Steinhatchee 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.
Does Steinhatchee flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Steinhatchee. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Steinhatchee isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Taylor County.13 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Steinhatchee
Disasters that paid out in Steinhatchee itself (aid to households or repair grants to Steinhatchee), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Helene684 households applied for aid$8.2M aid approved
- 2024Hurricane Debby58 households applied for aid$151K aid approved
- 2023Hurricane Idalia542 households applied for aid$1.3M aid approved
- 2018Hurricane Michael37 households applied for aid$19K aid approved
- 2017Hurricane Irma23 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
- 2016Hurricane Hermine147 households applied for aid$598K aid approved
Show all 13
- 2012Tropical Storm Debby19 households applied for aid$15K aid approved
- 2008Tropical Storm Fay2 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Dennis19 households applied for aid$13K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Jeanne37 households applied for aid$107K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Ivan19 households applied for aid$41K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Frances5 households applied for aid$35K aid approved
- 2004Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley1 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
Taylor County has had 27 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 Taylor County, 2000–2000.
Old photos of Steinhatchee after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Steinhatchee archive →Get ready for what Steinhatchee 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 Steinhatchee
Is Steinhatchee 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 Taylor County, 24% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 6.9% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Steinhatchee?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Steinhatchee’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 Steinhatchee?
By FEMA money that reached Steinhatchee, Hurricane Helene (2024): 684 households applied for aid, $8.2M approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Steinhatchee.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Steinhatchee’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.