376 flood insurance claims·$3.5M paid·5 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 Kent County, Delaware. 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 coastal flooding dominate the flood character of Kent County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 30 flash flood events and 29 coastal flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 20 floods, 11 storm surge or tide events, and 5 tropical storms.
Recent occurrences illustrate these coastal and tidal threats. In October 2025, a powerful coastal storm sat off the Delaware coast, pushing water into back bays and causing tidal flooding over multiple high tide cycles. Previously, in September 2023, Tropical Storm Ophelia produced a steady onshore flow that caused widespread tidal flooding along the Delaware coast.
Homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents should note that properties in FEMA Flood Zone A warrant the most attention, accounting for the vast majority of historical claims with 281 filings averaging an $11,145 payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X properties also experienced claims, totaling 53 filings with an average payout of $22,439 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, while Zone V recorded 22 claims averaging a $9,005 payout with an average water depth of 7 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Kent County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
320 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 6 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 2008, with 64 claims and $1.3M paid.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Kent County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Delaware flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Isaias | Aug 4, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
| Snow | Feb 14, 2003 |
| Blizzard Of 96 (severe Snow Storm) | Jan 6, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
95 since 1996: 30 flash floods, 20 river or area floods and 40 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 23, 2023 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jun 3, 2023 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Apr 18, 2022 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 29, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Aug 21, 2025. Storm surge from Hurricane Erin and an upcoming New Moon resulted in moderate to locally major high tide levels on the night of August 21, 2025 across coastal areas of Delaware.
Coastal Flood · Oct 12, 2025. A powerful coastal storm sat off the Delaware coast, with strong winds pushing water towards the shoreline and into the back bays of Delaware. Moderate to locally major high tide levels were observed over the southern half of the state. Tidal flooding continued over multiple high tide cycles.
Coastal Flood · Sep 23, 2023. Tropical Storm Ophelia drifted northward from eastern North Carolina into southeastern Virginia on the afternoon and early evening of September 23. Meanwhile, strong high pressure was centered in Quebec. The pattern resulted in a steady onshore flow along the coast of Delaware, causing widespread tidal flooding.
Coastal Flood · Jun 3, 2023. Low pressure centered well off the coast and strong high pressure building southward from eastern Canada resulted in the development of a steady onshore wind on June 3. The pattern brought widespread moderate tidal flooding to the Delaware coast around the evening high tide.
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 Kent 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.