Hurricane Helene
NFIP flood claims
- In 2024 dollars (CPI-U), its median paid claim, $94,526, is 273.4% above the middle value of the storm medians ($25,316).
- Median paid claims of the storm run from $16,967 in South Carolina to $96,598 in Florida.
- By paid claims (50,440), Hurricane Helene is the 4th highest of 42 named storms covered here, and the 2nd highest of 42 by median paid claim in 2024 dollars.
- Florida holds 94.5% of the storm’s paid claims and North Carolina 3.3%; 6 states are listed.
Source: FEMA, OpenFEMA NfipClaims (v3, data as of 2026-09-09, retrieved 2026-10-12); CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items (CUUR0000SA0), annual average (BLS Public Data API v1, annual averages 2005-2025, retrieved 2026-10-12). Not an official federal report.
Landfall and storm report
The National Hurricane Center’s HURDAT2 best track of Hurricane Helene (AL092024, retrieved 2026-10-12) records 1 landfall, in or near a US county. It came on 2024-09-27 at 03:10 UTC, as a category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 kt: HURDAT2 position 30.0N 83.7W, rounded to 0.1°; county containing or nearest it: Taylor County, FL.
| Date | Time (UTC) | Position | Strength | Wind (kt) | Pressure (mb) | County containing or nearest the position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-09-27 | 03:10 | 30.0N 83.7W | category 4 hurricane | 120 | 939 | Taylor County, FL |
National Hurricane Center report
From the NHC Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Helene (retrieved 2026-10-12):
“Helene made landfall in the Florida Big Bend region as a category 4 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale).”
“The storm brought catastrophic inland flooding, extreme winds, deadly storm surge, and numerous tornadoes that devastated portions of the southeastern United States and southern Appalachians.”
NFIP paid building claims in Hurricane Helene
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: event: Hurricane Helene, year of loss 2024; 50,440 paid claims; median $94,526, half of them between $31,896 (Q1) and $151,147 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $94,526, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 50,440 |
Paid claims by state
| State | Paid claims | Median paid |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 47,677 | $96,598 |
| North Carolina | 1,686 | $63,792 |
| Georgia | 508 | $27,101 |
| South Carolina | 276 | $16,967 |
| Tennessee | 179 | $35,000 |
| Virginia | 110 | $34,365 |
Counties with the most paid claims
Pinellas County, FL alone accounts for 41.1% of the storm’s paid claims, followed by Hillsborough County, FL and Manatee County, FL.
| County | FIPS | Paid claims |
|---|---|---|
| Pinellas County | 12103 | 20,713 |
| Hillsborough County | 12057 | 6,731 |
| Manatee County | 12081 | 4,648 |
| Pasco County | 12101 | 3,954 |
| Sarasota County | 12115 | 3,879 |
| Lee County | 12071 | 2,324 |
| Charlotte County | 12015 | 2,199 |
| Citrus County | 12017 | 1,549 |
| Hernando County | 12053 | 745 |
| Buncombe County | 37021 | 394 |
Questions about Hurricane Helene flood claims
How many flood insurance claims were paid after Hurricane Helene?
50,440 NFIP building claims carrying FEMA’s Hurricane Helene event label were paid (event: Hurricane Helene, year of loss 2024), with a median of $94,526; half of them fall between $31,896 and $151,147. These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Which counties had the most Hurricane Helene flood claims?
Pinellas County, FL (20,713), Hillsborough County, FL (6,731) and Manatee County, FL (4,648), across 6 states listed.
What is the median Hurricane Helene flood claim in 2024 dollars?
$94,526 once each claim is adjusted with the CPI-U, against $94,526 in nominal dollars: a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Related tools
Paid claims of Hurricane Helene are not repair estimates: to estimate the cleanup of a flooded basement from published cost-guide rates, use the basement water damage repair cost calculator; for water removal and drying after any water loss, the water damage and mitigation calculator.
To set these figures against every State on one claims window, amounts paid, not repair cost: NFIP paid building claims by state.
Before using these figures
A storm total counts NFIP-insured buildings with a paid claim, not all the damage of the storm. Method and limits.
Source and notice
- Storm = floodEvent "Hurricane Helene" with yearOfLoss 2024; window of the extraction: yearOfLoss 2005-2025.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).