Photo: Evanoco · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Elliott
Elliott isn’t graded for hazard risk: Elliott has 230 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Elliott 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
Earthquakes
Tornadoes
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 Elliott flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Elliott. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Elliott 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.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Elliott
Disasters that paid out in Elliott itself (aid to households or repair grants to Elliott), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2016Hurricane Matthew6 households applied for aid$1K aid approved
- 2015Severe Storms and Flooding38 households applied for aid$23K aid approved
- 2004Tropical Storm Frances21 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
Lee County has had 18 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Elliott after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Elliott archive →Get ready for what Elliott 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- 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 Elliott
Is Elliott 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, 2% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Elliott?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Elliott’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 Elliott?
By FEMA money that reached Elliott, Severe Storms and Flooding (2015): 38 households applied for aid, $23K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Elliott.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Elliott’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.