Broward County, FL Environment & Hazard Risk

• LightningVery High$12.03M/yr expected annual loss, about 99 events a year
• HurricaneVery High$280M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 3 years
• Heat waveRelatively High$20.46M/yr expected annual loss, about 5.7 events a year
• WildfireRelatively Moderate$6.54M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 89 years
• Coastal floodingVery High$14.12M/yr expected annual loss, about 2.6 events a year
• TornadoRelatively High$13.65M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 1 year
• Cold waveRelatively High$10.36M/yr expected annual loss, about 1.5 events a year
• Strong windRelatively Moderate$1.16M/yr expected annual loss, about 1.0 events a year
• LandslideRelatively Low$3,940/yr expected annual loss, about once every 7 years
• EarthquakeVery Low$142K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 5,128 years
• DroughtRelatively Low$34.35K/yr expected annual loss, about 15 events a year
• HailRelatively Low$124K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 1 year

Bars show the national percentile score (0 to 100) for each hazard. Dollar figures are expected annual losses to buildings, people and crops. Not rated here: avalanche, ice storm, riverine flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, winter weather.

Check the flood zone for an address

Homes with flood insurance

125,204 of 652,397 (19.2%)

Homes in high-risk flood zones

123,414

Insured in high-risk zones

93,955 (76%)

Flood claims since 1978

35,049

Claims paid since 1978

$458M

• Thunderstorm Wind280
• Hail183
• Lightning133 · 18 deaths
• Funnel Cloud96
• Drought85
• Flood79
• Tornado72
• Rip Current64 · 43 deaths
• Waterspout46
• Coastal Flood44

• Tropical Storm09/09/2017

  Metro Broward County

  21 deaths

  What happened

  Hurricane Irma produced maximum sustained winds generally between 50 and 70 mph, with possible isolated spots of sustained wind to hurricane force. Gusts of 80 to 100 mph were common across most of metro Broward County. These winds produced heavy tree, fences and power pole damage. Structural damage was mostly minor. A total of 689,500 customers lost power, abput 74% of total customers. Around 17,000 people evacuated to county shelters.||One direct fatality occurred in the Miami Gardens neighborhood in the southern part of the county where an 86-year-old man who was knocked down by a gust of wind while opening the front door of his home the night before landfall. The victim hit his head on the floor and died a few days later from the resulting injuries.

• Tropical Storm11/04/1998

  Coastal Broward

  65 injured, $50M damage

  What happened

  Tropical Storm Mitch, after devastating portions of central America as a hurricane then dissipating over land, reformed over the Bay of Campeche and moved northeast across the Yucatan Peninsula, the southeast Gulf of Mexico and into south Florida. Casualties in south Florida included two drownings in a fishing boat that capsized near the Dry Tortugas and about 65 injuries, most of them minor, in the upper Keys involving tornadoes. Losses are estimated at $50 million, including $20 million in crop damage. Much of the property damage was caused by the five tropical storm-spawned tornadoes, one of which reached a maximum intensity of F2, in the upper Keys. A total of 646 dwellings were damaged or destroyed in an area mainly from Islamorada to North Key Largo. Other tornadoes touched down in Broward, Palm Beach and Collier counties. Widespread rainfall totals across south Florida averaged 6 to 8 inches with local amounts of 13 inches. The storm surge was 2 to 4 feet in the Keys and along the southwest Florida coast and 1 to 2 feet along the southeast Florida coast which produced minor tidal flooding, beach erosion and damage to marine structures and vessels. The maximum...

• Hurricane (Typhoon)10/14/1999

  Coastal Broward

  4 injured, $87M damage

  What happened

  After lingering as a broad area of low pressure in the western Caribbean Sea for four days, a tropical depression formed just after midnight EDT on October 13 and became tropical storm Irene in the northwest Caribbean Sea later that morning. Irene moved north across western Cuba on October 14 and strengthened to hurricane intensity early on October 15 in the Straits of Florida. It then made its first landfall in south Florida in the lower Florida Keys around 9 AM EDT, October 15. After crossing Florida Bay the center of Irene made landfall on the peninsula near Cape Sable around 4 PM EDT, October 15 as a Category One intensity hurricane. It moved northeast across central Miami-Dade and Broward counties before exiting into the Atlantic just after midnight EDT on October 16 near Jupiter in northeast Palm Beach County.Heavy rains and sustained winds of tropical storm force caused widespread flooding and power outages in the metropolitan areas of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The effects were similar, although somewhat more widespread, than those experienced in tropical storm Gordon in November 1994 and were reminiscent of the wet hurricanes in the 1930s and...

• Hurricane (Typhoon)09/04/2004

  Coastal Broward

  $80M damage

  What happened

  Hurricane Frances formed from a tropical depression in the deep tropical Atlantic on August 25 about 1400 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and reached hurricane strength on August 26. Frances became a Category 4 Hurricane on August 28 while about 700 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. Frances then moved generally west northwest and weakened to a Category 2 hurricane while crossing the northwest Bahamas. After stalling for about 12 hours on September 4 in the Florida Straits between Grand Bahama Island and the southeast Florida coast, the center of the nearly 70-mile diameter eye crossed the Florida coast near Sewalls Point, at 1 A.M. EDT, September 5, 2004 with the southern eyewall affecting the extreme northeast portion of Palm Beach County. Frances moved farther inland just north of Lake Okeechobee and weakened to a tropical storm before crossing the entire Florida Peninsula and exiting into the Gulf of Mexico just north of Tampa late on September 5. It made a second landfall as a tropical storm in the eastern Florida Panhandle.Sustained tropical storm-force winds likely occurred in all six south Florida counties. Although no sustained hurricane-force winds were...

• Flash Flood10/15/1999

  East Portion, Broward County

  $70M damage

  What happened

  Widespread flooding from hurricane Irene inundated most of the metropolitan areas of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

• Hurricane (Typhoon)09/25/2004

  Coastal Broward

  $50M damage

  What happened

  Hurricane Jeanne formed from a tropical depression just east of the Leeward Islands on September 13. She moved across Puerto Rico and Hispaniola then turned north into the Atlantic and became a hurricane on September 20. Jeanne made a clockwise loop for three days in the Atlantic north of Hispaniola before moving west northwest. It strengthened to a Category 3 Hurricane while over the northwest Bahamas and then make landfall around 11 P.M., September 25 near the south end of Hutchinson Island, nearly coincident with the landfall point of Hurricane Frances nearly three week before. The 40-mile diameter eye was not quite as large as Frances, but the southern eyewall again affected northeast Palm Beach County. After landfall Jeanne initially moved along a track similar to Frances, just north of Lake Okeechobee as it weakened to a tropical storm then it turned to the northwest and moved over the northwest Florida Peninsula.Although slightly smaller and stronger then Hurricane Frances, winds and pressures over southeast Florida were remarkably similar to Frances. Unfortunately, the ASOS at West Palm Beach International Airport quit sending data during the height of the...

• Thunderstorm Wind50 kt wind07/26/2026

  (Fxe)ft Laudrdl Exec, Broward County

• Wildfire07/16/2026

  Inland Broward County

• Drought07/01/2026

  Metro Broward County

• Drought07/01/2026

  Coastal Broward County

• Wildfire07/01/2026

  Inland Broward County

• Drought07/01/2026

  Inland Broward County

• Wildfire06/28/2026

  Inland Broward County

• Tornado0.36 mi path, 25 yd wide06/26/2026

  Miramar, Broward County

• Hurricane Wilma (2005)10/16/2005 · Landfall: FL · 882 mbCategory 3121 mph nearby
• Hurricane Katrina (2005)08/24/2005 · Landfall: FL, LA · 902 mbCategory 181 mph nearby
• Hurricane Irene (1999)10/12/1999 · Landfall: FL · 958 mbCategory 181 mph nearby
• Tropical Storm Harvey (1999)09/19/1999 · Landfall: FL · 994 mbTropical storm58 mph nearby
• Tropical Storm Dottie (1976)08/18/1976 · 996 mbTropical storm40 mph nearby
• Hurricane Isbell (1964)10/09/1964 · Landfall: FL, NC · 964 mbCategory 2104 mph nearby
• Hurricane Cleo (1964)08/21/1964 · Landfall: FL, GA · 938 mbCategory 2109 mph nearby
• Tropical Storm Florence (1960)09/17/1960 · 1,000 mbTropical storm40 mph nearby
• Unnamed storm (1956)10/14/1956 · Landfall: FL · 996 mbTropical storm63 mph nearby
• Unnamed storm (1952)02/02/1952Tropical storm63 mph nearby

• Pembroke Pines, City ofServes 187,459 · Groundwater · Local government1 health violation+43 monitoring or reporting
• Fort Lauderdale, City ofServes 185,163 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+80 monitoring or reporting
• Hollywood, City ofServes 147,566 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+53 monitoring or reporting
• Miramar (East ; West) PlantsServes 137,107 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+39 monitoring or reporting
• City of PompanoServes 99,400 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+34 monitoring or reporting
• Plantation, East ; CentralServes 85,496 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+21 monitoring or reporting
• Sunrise SpringtreeServes 79,550 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+31 monitoring or reporting
• Bcwws 1aServes 75,305 · Groundwater · Local government1 health violation+4 monitoring or reporting