These counties are the most hurricane-prone, most expensive in Florida

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read
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Of the 10 counties with the highest expected annual financial loss from hurricanes nationwide, eight are in Florida and those eight counties represent over $4 billion in losses.

Three Florida counties also rank in the country’s top five most hurricane-vulnerable counties, according to data from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) and 10 years of historical storm data and financial impact projections from government agencies.

Here’s a breakdown of the predictions for this hurricane season and where Florida’s most hurricane-vulnerable counties rank on the national list.

Is 2023 going to be an active hurricane season?

On July 6, Colorado State University released its third forecast for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, predicting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season for this year.

Although, there’s more uncertainty than usual with this year’s predictions due to record-breaking extreme heat.

“While we continue to anticipate a robust El Niño for the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season,” the report says, "most of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic now has record warm sea surface temperatures.”

The amount of predicted storms for this year is almost four storms more than the yearly average.

“We estimate that 2023 will have a total of 18 named storms (average is 14.4), 90 named storm days (average is 69.4), nine hurricanes (average is 7.2), 35 hurricane days (average is 27.0), four major (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes (average is 3.2) and nine major hurricane days (average is 7.4),” the report says.

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Where in Florida do hurricanes hit the most?

Gutter company Gutter Gnome created a study based on data from the NCDP and published a national list for 2023’s most hurricane-vulnerable counties, ranking each county by level of risk, hurricane history and financial impact.

The study examined the 318 counties that have a Hurricane Risk Score determined by the NCDP.

According to the study, 10% of the most susceptible counties are made up almost entirely of only three states: Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Florida counties take up nine of the top 20 rankings on the list.

Here are the rankings for the 20 most hurricane-vulnerable counties and their overall vulnerability scores (out of 100):

  1. Broward County, Florida, 72.70

  2. Palm Beach County, Florida, 72.09

  3. Charleston County, South Carolina, 68.17

  4. Horry County, South Carolina, 66.31

  5. Miami-Dade County, Florida, 65.10

  6. Beaufort County, South Carolina, 64.93

  7. Berkeley County, South Carolina, 62.76

  8. Chatham County, Georgia, 62.50

  9. Dorchester County, South Carolina, 60.97

  10. Onslow County, North Carolina, 60.75

  11. Brevard County, Florida, 59.98

  12. Georgetown County, South Carolina, 59.61

  13. Harris County, Texas, 57.89

  14. New Hanover County, North Carolina, 57.73

  15. Orange County, Florida, 57.02

  16. St. Lucie County, Florida, 55.83

  17. Florence County, South Carolina, 55.80

  18. Collier County, Florida, 54.98

  19. Carteret County, North Carolina, 54.74

  20. Volusia County, Florida, 54.55

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Which counties are the most financially affected by hurricanes?

Four Florida counties made the top five list for counties with the highest expected annual financial loss from hurricanes.

Here’s the list, ranked from most vulnerable to least:

  1. Harris County, Texas

  2. Broward County, Florida

  3. Palm Beach County, Florida

  4. Miami-Dade County, Florida

  5. Hillsborough County, Florida

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Which counties are financially affected by hurricanes the least?

Surprisingly, one Florida county made the top five list for counties with the lowest expected annual financial loss from hurricane damages. All 318 counties studied were already on the NCDP's "risky" list, but Lee County, Florida, which includes Cayo Costa where Hurricane Ian made landfall in 2022, does not rank very high in any of the lists.

"Some counties synonymous with hurricane disasters didn’t rank as high — more vulnerable, that is — despite very high risk of storms and loss," the study says. "Lee County, Florida (No. 36), for instance, was devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022."

Of the 318 counties that were given a hurricane risk score, these counties have the lowest annual financial losses each hurricane season:

  1. Evans County, Georgia

  2. Hamilton County, Florida

  3. Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

  4. Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana

  5. Choctaw County, Alabama

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Where do hurricanes hit the most in Florida? Check our list