1,922 flood insurance claims·$15.2M paid·7 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Hartford County, Connecticut. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding and general flooding from severe summer thunderstorms dominate the flood character of Hartford County, supported by decades of NOAA storm records alongside occasional tropical storm impacts. Recent activity includes slow-moving thunderstorms that brought heavy rain and scattered flash flooding in July 2025, as well as a stationary complex of storms in August 2024 that produced record rainfall and devastating flooding across parts of the region, including Hartford County.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. High-risk Zone A accounts for 1,060 claims with an average payout of $11,440 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Meanwhile, moderate- to low-risk Zone X properties have also experienced significant impacts, registering a combined total of 534 claims across shaded and unshaded designations with average payouts ranging from $8,018 to $12,329 and average recorded water depths of 7 to 10 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention not only to properties in designated high-risk Zone A, but also to properties located in Zone X areas, where hundreds of claims demonstrate that damaging water depths averaging 7 to 10 inches can occur outside traditional flood zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
27% of Hartford County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,464 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 9 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2011, with 291 claims and $5.0M paid, the year of Hurricane Irene and Severe Storm.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
83 NOAA storm reports from Hartford County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Connecticut flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1978, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hawthorne Fire | Oct 21, 2024 |
| Hurricane Henri | Aug 21, 2021 |
| Tropical Storm Isaias | Aug 4, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Feb 8, 2013 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Severe Storm | Oct 29, 2011 |
| Tropical Storm Irene | Aug 27, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
192 since 1996: 92 flash floods and 96 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Aug 18, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2025. Slow-moving thunderstorms brought heavy rain and scattered flash flooding to western interior southern New England.
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2024. A round of thunderstorms brought wind damage and flash flooding to Connecticut.
Flood · Jun 21, 2024. Two rounds of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and isolated flash flooding to Connecticut in the afternoon and evening.
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2024. Two rounds of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and isolated flash flooding to Connecticut in the afternoon and evening.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Hartford County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.