20 Florida roof and storm facts

Fact 01

40%

Florida takes 40% of America's hurricanes

Of every hurricane that has struck the United States, forty percent hit Florida, according to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division. The lab also tallies the major ones, Category 3 and up: Florida and Texas together account for sixty percent of those strikes. No other state's roofs are asked to stand up to hurricane wind this often.

What it means for your roof: Wind sets the terms for a Florida roof, so ask how a new one will be fastened at its edges and its deck.

Fact 02

121

121 direct hurricane hits since 1851

NOAA keeps a running count of the hurricanes that made a direct hit on each state's mainland coast. Between 1851 and 2024 Florida took 121 of them, and 38 were major storms of Category 3 or stronger. Texas and Louisiana share second place with 64 apiece, so Florida's total comes close to double either one.

What it means for your roof: The storm and insurance rules that touch your roof are in the FAQ, each answer with its source.

Fact 03

Sept. 10

Hurricane season peaks on September 10

Officially, the Atlantic season opens on June 1 and closes on November 30. The National Hurricane Center puts its statistical peak on September 10, with most of the activity packed between mid-August and mid-October. That makes the months before June, and the first weeks of the season, the calmer stretch of the year for planned roof work.

What it means for your roof: If your roof is due, booking the work before mid-August keeps it clear of the busiest storm weeks.

Fact 04

14 · 7 · 3

A typical season: 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3 major

Averaged over 1991 to 2020, an Atlantic season produces 14 named storms, according to the National Hurricane Center. Half of them, seven, grow into hurricanes, and three reach major strength at Category 3 or higher. Those figures count every storm in the Atlantic basin, not only the ones that reach Florida.

What it means for your roof: A look at the roof each spring catches lifted shingles and loose flashing while they are still small repairs.

Fact 05

74 mph

Even a Category 1 can damage shingles and gutters

A Category 1 hurricane on NOAA's Saffir-Simpson scale carries sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph. The scale's own description says that is enough to damage the roof, shingles, vinyl siding and gutters of a well-built frame home. At Category 3, from 111 to 129 mph, it warns that roof decking and gable ends can be torn away.

What it means for your roof: After any named storm, walk around the house and check the gutters and the shingle edges first.

Fact 06

3 of 4

Three of the four Category 5 landfalls since 1900 hit Florida

Only four hurricanes have come ashore in the United States at Category 5 strength since 1900: the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys, Camille in 1969, Andrew in 1992 and Michael in 2018. Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida. That puts three of the four strongest landfalls of the last century and a quarter on Florida's coast.

What it means for your roof: Florida's code gives every address a design wind speed, and a new roof has to be built to it.

Fact 07

165 mph

Andrew: 165 mph and about 49,000 homes destroyed

Hurricane Andrew made landfall in South Florida on August 24, 1992, as a Category 5 with winds of 165 mph. The National Weather Service office in Miami counts about 49,000 homes destroyed in southern Dade County and about 108,000 more damaged. What the state changed because of that storm is the next fact on this page.

What it means for your roof: A re-roof on a house built before 2002 is done to today's code, not to the rules the house was first permitted under.

Fact 08

2002

Andrew is why Florida has one building code

Andrew showed how uneven Florida's patchwork of local building codes had become. The Legislature adopted a single statewide code in 1998, and the first Florida Building Code took effect on March 1, 2002, replacing every local code in the state. Since then a permit in Ocala and a permit in Tampa answer to the same statewide code, with an extra set of roof rules for Broward and Miami-Dade.

What it means for your roof: Every Florida re-roof permit is checked against this one code; the roof replacement page shows what it asks for.

Fact 09

150 mph

Homes built to the modern code stood up to Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian came ashore in 2022 as a high-end Category 4 with 150 mph winds. FEMA's assessment team, as summarized by the International Code Council, did not observe wind-related structural damage to any home built after Florida adopted its statewide code. Roof coverings were another story: the most common damage the team found was at hips and ridges, on newer and older roofs alike.

What it means for your roof: Hips and ridges deserve a close look after a storm, even on a roof that is only a few years old.

Fact 10

1926

Adjusted for today, the costliest U.S. hurricane hit Miami in 1926

NOAA's hurricane researchers rank U.S. storms by damage adjusted to today's population, wealth and prices. On that list the costliest is not Andrew. It is the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. The adjustment estimates what each storm would cost if it struck the same coast today, with every home and business now standing in its path.

What it means for your roof: Insurers ask how old your roof is; the FAQ explains Florida's roof-age rules and where they come from.

Fact 14

1,743 gal

One inch of rain puts 1,743 gallons on a roof

The U.S. Geological Survey did the math: one inch of rain on a 40-by-70-foot roof adds up to 1,743 gallons. All of it has to leave by the gutters and downspouts or over the roof edge, and in Florida it can arrive fast. NOAA's Atlas 14 puts the 10-year, five-minute burst at 8.71 to 11.3 inches an hour across ten points in the state.

What it means for your roof: Gutter size should follow your roof area and your local rain rate; the gutters page works through the math.

Fact 15

gutta

Gutter comes from the Latin word for a drop

The word gutter reached English through the Old French goutiere, from the Latin gutta, meaning a drop. Its sense of a trough under the eaves that carries off rainwater dates from the mid-1300s. So for well over six centuries, English speakers have had a word for the job a Florida gutter does in every summer storm: moving drops off the roof before they cause trouble.

What it means for your roof: Florida's code wants downspouts to empty at least a foot from the wall, by extension, pipe or splash block.