147 flood insurance claims·$1.1M paid·8 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 Androscoggin County, Maine. 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.
Standard river flooding and flash flooding dominate the flood profile of Androscoggin County, supported by NOAA storm event records from the last 30 years documenting 52 flood events, 27 flash flood events, and 2 tropical storms.
Severe weather impacts are exemplified by conditions such as the March 2024 multifaceted storm, which produced heavy rain, snowmelt, excessive runoff, minor river flooding, and nuisance overland standing water.
Property owners in mapped high-risk areas should pay the closest attention to flood risk, particularly those in Zone A, which accounts for the highest claim volume with 80 recorded claims averaging $13,540 in payouts and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Residents in zones with unclassified or moderate-to-low risk designations—including Zone UNKNOWN, Zone X_SHADED, Zone X, and Zone X_UNSHADED—also report historical claims ranging from 6 to 27 claims per category, with average water depths between 3 and 10 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
23% of Androscoggin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
104 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 5 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 1987, with 66 claims and $602,336 paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding.
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.
46 NOAA storm reports from Androscoggin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Maine flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Dec 17, 2023 |
| Hurricane Lee | Sep 15, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Jan 26, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Feb 8, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Dec 11, 2008 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jul 18, 2008 |
| Severe Storms And Inland And Coastal Flooding | Apr 15, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
81 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 52 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 29, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 19, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 19, 2023 | $560,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2023 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2023 | $300,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 10, 2024. A multifaceted storm brought strong winds and heavy rain to the coast, and heavy snow to the mountains on March 10th. A period of heavy rain between daybreak and noon caused excessive runoff and flash flooding in parts of Cumberland County where rainfall totals exceeded 3 inches. Elsewhere, the rain and snowmelt combination resulted in minor river flooding and nuisance overland standing water. Gale force easterl…
Flash Flood · Jul 29, 2023. A stalled frontal boundary and surface low pressure began to slowly lift northward into the southeast New Hampshire through the Midcoast of Maine on the afternoon of the 29th. Showers and thunderstorms developed along the boundary and moved eastward. Since the system as a whole showed very little forward progression, multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms ended up moving across the same locations multiple ti…
Flash Flood · Jul 25, 2023. Showers and thunderstorms developed along a slow moving sea breeze boundary across central Androscoggin County on the afternoon into early evening of the 25th. The storm produced rainfall rates between 2 and 3 inches an hour on top of already saturated soils. This ended up leading to multiple instances of flash flooding, specifically in the Cities of Auburn and Lewiston. In addition to the more significant flash…
Flood · Dec 19, 2023. Low pressure began organizing in the Gulf of Mexico on the 16th, setting record low sea level pressures as it traversed the Southeast through the 17th. Strong high pressure over the North Atlantic created a deep southeasterly flow that drew warm air into New England ahead of the approaching storm. By the time precipitation arrived on the evening of the 17th, temperatures were warm enough for rain everywhere except…
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 Androscoggin 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.