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Indian Rocks Beach, Florida

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Clearwater census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33785. The Survey maps it on the Clearwater quadrangle. 3,673 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 10 feet above sea level.

Indian Rocks Beach within Pinellas County

Then and now

1921 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 74 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Indian Rocks Beach, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Indian Rocks Beach, surveyed 1921

Compare 1921 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Indian Rocks Beach fell from 4,113 to 3,673 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20104,113
20203,673-440 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

9 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Indian Rocks Beach between 1993 and 2016, burning about 58 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Natural3
Arson/incendiarism3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 July 2015Natural7.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceSEMINOLE (52)
13 July 1993Natural20 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
14 June 1993Natural1.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
3 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresFlorida Forest Service52 SEMINOLE PARK
14 April 2006Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresFlorida Forest Service52 102ND
26 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.5 acresFlorida Forest Service52 WALSINGHAM
20 March 1996Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
10 March 2016Arson/incendiarism10 acresFlorida Forest ServiceWALSINGHAM ROAD (52) **

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pinellas County

Storms near this place

16 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Indian Rocks Beach in 16 storm reports between 1993 and 2018: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 2 waterspout, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 4 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2012Heavy RainIndian Rocks Beach1 killedHeavy rain caused minor flooding in Indian Rocks Beach. A 71 year old man died after suffering a heart attack while standing in less than a foot of water in his front yard and could not remove himself from the water. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was drowning, with heart disease as a contributing factor.
October 1997Tornado (F1)Indian Rocks Beach4 hurt, $4,500,000A tornado touched down near State Road 699 (Gulf Boulevard) and 6th Avenue, moved northeast and dissipated near the intersection of County Road 590 and Old Coachman Road. The tornado left thousands of electrical customers without power, knocked down numerous trees, caused several roofs to collapse and shattered windows from Indian Rocks Beach northeast through Largo and primarily in Clearwater.Damage from the tornado totalled $4.5 million dollars. From Indian Rocks Beach, through Largo to Clearwater, 190 buildings received damage from the tornado. Four million dollars of the damage occurred to properties in Clearwater, $300,000 in Indian Rocks Beach, and $200,000 in Largo.The tornado caused major damage to 19 homes while another 135 suffered minor damage. Sixteen apartment buildings incurred major damage while ten others suffered minor damage from the tornadic wind. Also, eleven businesses and a high school gym in Clearwater suffered minor to moderate damage.
March 2011Tornado (EF1)Indian Rocks Beach$750,000A waterspout moved onshore as a tornado and destroyed the second floor of a 3,600 square foot multiple occupancy home. Power lines and poles were snapped adjacent to the home. The tornado lifted before reaching the intercostal.
June 2012Tornado (EF1)Indian Rocks Beach$130,000A tornado damaged 21 structures including mobile homes, car ports, billboards and trees. One block home lost part of the roof and debris blocked Walsingham Road near Hamlin Boulevard.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindIndian Rocks Beach$75,000The Pinellas County Sheriffs Department reported that thunderstorm winds caused moderate roof damage to a commercial building in Indian Rocks Beach and another in Largo.
February 1998Thunderstorm WindIndian Rocks Beach$50,000Thunderstorm winds caused minor to moderate damage to a few homes and downed a few trees in Indian Rocks Beach and Belleair Beach. A cable television meteorologist estimated winds from the thunderstorm to be between 65 and 70 mph while he conducted an outdoor weathercast from Indian Rocks Beach.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindIndian Rocks Beach$25,000Broadcast media relayed a report of wind damage to homes and an apartment building around Bay Street SE and 20th Avenue in Indian Rocks Beach. A section of roof was blown off the apartment building on Bay Street SE and onto a road, and several trees and telephone poles were knocked down. Additionally, property damage reported on 20th Avenue included a porch, a lanai, a roof, and a stop sign. Time was estimated based off radar.
July 2018LightningIndian Rocks Beach$10,000A lightning strike was reported to a home in the Indian Rocks Beach area, damaging a DVD player and leaving a mark on the floor. The fire department did not find any additional damage or fires.
February 1998Thunderstorm WindIndian Rocks Beach$10,000Thunderstorm winds of up to 70 mph downed several large branches in Indian Rocks Beach. A few homes had roof and tile damage from the thunderstorm wind.
August 2016FloodIndian Rocks Beach-Excessive rainfall from a deeply moist environment ahead of Hurricane Hermine led to numerous reports of street flooding in southern and central Pinellas County. Cars were reported to be stalled in high water at 54th Avenue and Interstate 275, and additional flooding was reported in Saint Petersburg, Gulfport, and Indian Rocks Beach.
March 2014Tornado (EF0)Indian Rocks Beach-A social media report was received of a waterspout moving onshore at Indian Shores. The tornado quickly dissipated without causing significant damage.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindIndian Rocks Beach-A home weather station measured a wind gust of 72 mph in Indian Rocks Beach.
September 2011Heavy RainIndian Rocks Beach-A trained spotter reported street flooding near the intersection of Ulmerton Road and Gulf Boulevard due to heavy rains.
May 1997WaterspoutIndian Rocks Beach-A waterspout formed and quickly dissipated offshore of Indian Rocks Beach.
September 1993HailIndian Rocks Beach-Quarter-size hail fell.
July 1998WaterspoutIndian Rocks Beach-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pinellas County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Indian Spring Estates0.5 miles15
Indian Shores0.9 miles15
Oakhurst Acres1.1 miles15
Anona1.8 miles15
Orange Terrace1.8 miles15
Oakhurst Terrace2.1 miles15
Habor Bluffs2.6 miles15
Harbor Bluffs2.7 miles15

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Indian Rocks BeachAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q992514The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 284535. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.