4,307 flood insurance claims·$35.5M 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 Sussex 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.
Coastal flooding dominates the flood character of Sussex County, supported by 137 recorded coastal flood events alongside 68 flash flood and 51 general flood occurrences over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include a powerful coastal storm in October 2025 that caused moderate to locally major high tides over multiple cycles, as well as an area of low pressure in October 2025 that brought onshore easterly flow and moderate tidal flooding to the southern Delaware coast and back bay communities.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate the highest claim volumes occur in high-risk coastal and riverine areas, with Zone A recording 2,918 claims (average payout of $11,057 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches) and Zone V recording 953 claims (average payout of $11,235 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches). Lower-risk areas also face risk, including 264 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $11,321 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Coastal property owners, residents near back bays, and those in designated Special Flood Hazard Areas should pay the most attention to these risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Sussex County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
4,037 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 2012, with 1,486 claims and $17.3M paid, the year of Hurricane Sandy.
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.
58 NOAA storm reports from Sussex County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Delaware flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 23, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
| Snow | Feb 14, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
292 since 1996: 68 flash floods, 51 river or area floods and 160 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Oct 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 1, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 1, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Sep 23, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Oct 29, 2025. An area of low pressure moved just to the west of Delaware, with onshore easterly flow pushing water towards the New Jersey coast and back bay communities. This resulted in Moderate Tidal Flooding along the southern Delaware coast.
Flash Flood · Jun 29, 2025. Scattered thunderstorms, out ahead of a cold front, produced heavy rain across Sussex County Delaware on the afternoon of June 29. The heaviest rain fell across the Delaware Beaches and adjacent bays.
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.
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 Sussex 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.