Disaster Data / States / Florida / Highlands County
CountyHighlands County recorded 16 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 11 emergency declarations and 2 fire management declarations, 29 in all. Its most common hazard is hurricane.
Highlighted: Highlands County, FL
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for Highlands County runs between 1999 and 2024, covering 29 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Hurricane Milton in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, severe storm, and tropical storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $38.4 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for debris removal.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 86.7% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.
Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation
The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation
$38M has been obligated to Highlands County in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$38M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $504K, or 1% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.
Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.
| Category | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Debris removal(A) | 113 | $27,935,150 |
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 155 | $3,615,906 |
| Buildings and equipment(E) | 207 | $3,268,227 |
| Roads and bridges(C) | 37 | $1,974,048 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 40 | $884,519 |
| Management costs(Z) | 11 | $396,942 |
| Utilities(F) | 21 | $267,121 |
| Water control facilities(D) | 3 | $71,282 |
| All categories | 587 | $38,413,195 |
For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 9-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 71 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.
FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.
| Assistance type | Approved amount |
|---|---|
| Repair and replacement | $16,140,604 |
| Rental assistance | $6,698,677 |
| Other needs | $21,283,403 |
Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.
| Program | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP) | 11 | $2,384,029 |
| Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM) | 1 | $500,000 |
Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.
Archive coverage for Florida: 2020-present structured Governor archive; official State Library 1971-2019 OCR/manual backfill pending
| Signed | Order | Declaration | Hazards reported here | Reported damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 2022 | 2022-56 | #2022-56 Emergency Management – Severe Weather in Northeast and Central Florida | Thunderstorm Wind, Tornado | Not reported |
Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.
Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.
Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.
Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.
Showing 29 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2024 | DR-4834-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Milton |
| Oct 7, 2024 | EM-3622-FL | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Milton |
| Aug 10, 2024 | DR-4806-FL | DR | Tropical Storm | Hurricane Debby |
| Aug 3, 2024 | EM-3605-FL | EM | Tropical Storm | Tropical Storm Debby |
| Dec 13, 2022 | DR-4680-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Nicole |
| Nov 8, 2022 | EM-3587-FL | EM | Tropical Storm | Tropical Storm Nicole |
| Sep 29, 2022 | DR-4673-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Ian |
| Sep 24, 2022 | EM-3584-FL | EM | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Ian |
| Mar 25, 2020 | DR-4486-FL | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3432-FL | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Aug 30, 2019 | EM-3419-FL | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Dorian |
| Sep 10, 2017 | DR-4337-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Irma |
| Sep 5, 2017 | EM-3385-FL | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Irma |
| Oct 6, 2016 | EM-3377-FL | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Matthew |
| Jul 3, 2012 | DR-4068-FL | DR | Severe Storm | Tropical Storm Debby |
| Aug 24, 2008 | DR-1785-FL | DR | Severe Storm | Tropical Storm Fay |
| Aug 21, 2008 | EM-3288-FL | EM | Severe Storm | Tropical Storm Fay |
| Jun 27, 2007 | FM-2696-FL | FM | Fire | Okeechobee Fire Complex |
| Oct 24, 2005 | DR-1609-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Wilma |
| Sep 5, 2005 | EM-3220-FL | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| Sep 26, 2004 | DR-1561-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Jeanne |
| Sep 16, 2004 | DR-1551-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Ivan |
| Sep 4, 2004 | DR-1545-FL | DR | Hurricane | Hurricane Frances |
| Aug 13, 2004 | DR-1539-FL | DR | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Bonnie And Hurricane Charley |
| Sep 28, 2001 | DR-1393-FL | DR | Coastal Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding Associated With Tropical Storm Gabrielle |
| Feb 19, 2001 | FM-2354-FL | FM | Fire | Fl - Okeechobee Complex Fire |
| Feb 5, 2001 | DR-1359-FL | DR | Freezing | Severe Freeze |
| Oct 20, 1999 | DR-1306-FL | DR | Hurricane | Fl-Hurricane Irene-Dr-Req |
| Oct 15, 1999 | EM-3150-FL | EM | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Irene - Florida |
Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Florida's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.
Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.