Hurricane Michael
NFIP flood claims
- Median paid claims of the storm run from $6,200 in North Carolina to $35,181 in Florida.
- Florida holds 82.3% of the storm’s paid claims and North Carolina 11.8%; 3 states are listed.
- By paid claims (3,682), Hurricane Michael is the 21st lowest of 42 named storms covered here, and the 14th highest of 42 by median paid claim in 2024 dollars.
- Bay County, FL alone accounts for 33.9% of the storm’s paid claims, followed by Gulf County, FL and Franklin County, FL.
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 Michael (AL142018, retrieved 2026-10-12) records 1 landfall, in or near a US county. It came on 2018-10-10 at 17:30 UTC, as a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 kt: HURDAT2 position 30.0N 85.5W, rounded to 0.1°; county containing or nearest it: Bay County, FL.
| Date | Time (UTC) | Position | Strength | Wind (kt) | Pressure (mb) | County containing or nearest the position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-10-10 | 17:30 | 30.0N 85.5W | category 5 hurricane | 140 | 919 | Bay County, FL |
National Hurricane Center report
From the NHC Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Michael (retrieved 2026-10-12):
“Michael was a category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) that made a catastrophic landfall near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, producing devastating winds and storm surge near the coast, and rain and wind inland.”
“It was directly responsible for 16 deaths and about $25 billion in damage in the United States.”
NFIP paid building claims in Hurricane Michael
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: event: Hurricane Michael, year of loss 2018; 3,682 paid claims; median $25,713, half of them between $6,987 (Q1) and $74,770 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $32,121, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
In 2024 dollars (CPI-U), its median paid claim, $32,121, is 26.9% above the middle value of the storm medians ($25,316).
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 3,682 |
Paid claims by state
| State | Paid claims | Median paid |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 3,031 | $35,181 |
| North Carolina | 434 | $6,200 |
| Virginia | 184 | $19,063 |
Counties with the most paid claims
| County | FIPS | Paid claims |
|---|---|---|
| Bay County | 12005 | 1,247 |
| Gulf County | 12045 | 898 |
| Franklin County | 12037 | 605 |
| Dare County | 37055 | 299 |
| Wakulla County | 12129 | 192 |
Questions about Hurricane Michael flood claims
How many flood insurance claims were paid after Hurricane Michael?
3,682 NFIP building claims carrying FEMA’s Hurricane Michael event label were paid (event: Hurricane Michael, year of loss 2018), with a median of $25,713; half of them fall between $6,987 and $74,770. These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Which counties had the most Hurricane Michael flood claims?
Bay County, FL (1,247), Gulf County, FL (898) and Franklin County, FL (605), across 3 states listed.
What is the median Hurricane Michael flood claim in 2024 dollars?
$32,121 once each claim is adjusted with the CPI-U, against $25,713 in nominal dollars: a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Related tools
Paid claims of Hurricane Michael 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 Michael" with yearOfLoss 2018; 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).