110 flood insurance claims·$1.1M paid·4 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 Garrett County, Maryland. 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.
Garrett County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash flooding, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 51 flash flood events compared to 41 general flood events over the last 30 years. This risk is driven by weather patterns such as a slow-moving closed upper-level low originating from the Gulf of America that brought anomalous moisture and rainfall rates exceeding two inches an hour, as occurred during the May 2025 events when localized rainfall totals reached four to eight inches in a six-hour period.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that property owners in multiple zones have experienced flood losses. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 63 claims averaging a $12,389 payout and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Properties in Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 13 claims with a higher average payout of $30,544 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X_SHADED recorded 14 claims averaging $12,660 with an average water depth of 3 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 15 claims averaging $6,587 with an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X recorded 5 claims averaging $3,238 with an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, Zone X_UNSHADED, and Zone X_SHADED, as these zones account for the vast majority of insurance claims and financial losses in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
30% of Garrett County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
90 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 3 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 1996, with 47 claims and $465,923 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms and Flooding Assoc With Tropical Storm Fran.
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.
44 NOAA storm reports from Garrett County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Maryland flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1993, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
| Snow | Feb 14, 2003 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding Assoc With Tropical Storm Fran | Sep 6, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
92 since 1996: 51 flash floods and 41 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 1, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 13, 2025. A slow moving closed upper level low originating from the Gulf of America brought anomalous moisture into the area. A long duration period of rain ensued, with rain rates exceeding two inches an hour during the afternoon of May 13th. The slow moving storms coupled with training led to localized rainfall totals of four to eight inches across western Maryland, with lesser amounts of two to four inches across central…
Flood · Sep 1, 2021. The remnants of Ida produced widespread flooding along with instances of flash flooding across the area. Tropical moisture infiltrated the area and there were moderate amounts of instability as well. This combined with the lift provided from the remnants of Ida led to heavy rainfall during this time. Rainfall amounts averaged around 1-3 near and east of Interstate 95, with amounts around 4 to 8 inches across porti…
Flood · Mar 1, 2021. Low pressure over the midwestern United States brought a warm front across the region February 28th. Warm advection precipitation, enhanced by upslope flow and favorable upper jet dynamics, lead to an inch or two of rainfall in western portions of our forecast area. This, along with partial melting of snowpack in the mountains, lead to some isolated flooding across eastern western portions of our forecast area tha…
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2019. An unstable environment, plus residual outflow boundaries from previous convection, helped to expand thunderstorm coverage during the evening of the 29th and into the early morning hours of the 30th ahead of a sagging cold front. Storms pushed across Garrett County starting after 8 PM on the 29th. Periods of moderate to heavy rain occurred until around 4 AM the following morning as backbuilding storms continued…
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 Garrett 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.