NHC HURDAT2 · OpenFEMA · NWS Storm Events
Hurricane Helene (2024)
Helene in the federal records: the 748 cities near its track, flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and NWS reports.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
Hurricane Helene (2024) passed within 75 miles of 748 cities on this site in 9 states, 131 of them while it was at hurricane strength. Its peak wind on the NHC track was 138 mph (Category 4); the track runs from September 23, 2024 to September 28, 2024. It is on this list for the 5th most flood insurance claims of any tropical system on record. The most cities within 75 miles were in Georgia (273), Kentucky (141), Tennessee (130) and Indiana (74).
- Cities within 75 mi
- 748
- Peak wind
- 138 mph
- NFIP claims
- 58,090
- Deaths in NWS reports
- 180
131 at hurricane strength
Category 4
$6.76 billion
979 reports
The full track, landfalls and every city it passed →
Where it came closest
| City | Closest | Wind on the track | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panacea, FL | 38 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Cross City, FL | 42 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Old Town, FL | 49 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Carrabelle, FL | 50 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Bell, FL | 52 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Trenton, FL | 59 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Chiefland, FL | 60 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Eastpoint, FL | 62 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Apalachicola, FL | 67 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Newberry, FL | 71 mi | Category 4 (138 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| Perry, FL | 4 mi | Category 4 (137 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
| High Springs, FL | 67 mi | Category 4 (137 mph) | September 27, 2024 |
The 12 cities with the strongest wind on the NHC best track at its closest point, of 748 within 75 miles. Wind on the track is not the wind felt in the city.
Flood insurance claims and federal declarations
National Flood Insurance Program policyholders filed 58,090 claims under its name and were paid $6.76 billion for buildings and contents, in the dollars of the time; that is the 5th most of the 104 tropical systems with claims under their name. Florida had 54,676 of them (94%), then North Carolina with 2,028 and Georgia with 670. Among the cities on this site, the most claims came from St Petersburg, FL: 10,450, paid $1.46 billion. Claims data as of September 8, 2026. FEMA issued 8 major disaster declarations and 7 emergency declarations naming it, covering 747 designated areas in 9 states and territories; the first came on September 24, 2024.
| City | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| St Petersburg, FL | 10,450 | $1.46 billion |
| Tampa, FL | 5,879 | $733.4 million |
| St Pete Beach, FL | 3,870 | $600.7 million |
| Sarasota, FL | 3,327 | $452.2 million |
| Clearwater, FL | 2,197 | $325.8 million |
| Holmes Beach, FL | 2,003 | $216.3 million |
| New Port Richey, FL | 1,931 | $255.3 million |
| Indian Shores, FL | 1,497 | $151.3 million |
FEMA, OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3 (claims whose flood event carries the storm's name, ZIP codes summed by city) and Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).
What the National Weather Service recorded
The National Weather Service logged 979 reports whose account names it, in 15 states: 263 tropical storm, 230 flash flood, 195 high wind, 56 flood and 45 hurricane. They record 180 deaths and 116 injuries, and $11.32 billion in estimated property and crop damage.
September 27, 2024, Ridgecrest, North Carolina: flash flood, 15 killed, $300.0 million damage
NWS: “Historic and catastrophic flash flooding developed along the Swannanoa River basin during the early morning hours as rainfall rates began to intensify as tropical rainbands near the center of Helene swept across the area.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, reports dated within the storm's track whose account names it. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses; some reports are unverified.
More notable storms
Why these storms and how each figure is counted: methodology.