2,165 flood insurance claims·$30.4M paid·10 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 Rockingham County, New Hampshire. 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 Rockingham County's flood profile, accounting for 66 recorded events over the last 30 years, alongside 28 general floods, 15 flash floods, 8 storm surge or tide events, 4 tropical storms, and 1 hurricane. Recent events illustrate this coastal vulnerability, including a powerful storm on January 10, 2024, that combined cold air damming with heavy precipitation, and a mid-January storm on January 13, 2024, that combined an intense low-pressure system with the highest astronomical tides of the month, causing the Hampton tide gage to record its highest water level since records began in 2012. Another coastal flooding event occurred on March 10, 2024, driven by warm air advection and a developing secondary low-pressure area over the Carolinas.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in high-risk coastal and riverine areas, particularly those in FEMA Zone A, which accumulated 1304 claims with an average water depth of 12 inches and an average payout of $23,038. Properties in Zone V also require careful attention, having recorded 91 claims with a higher average water depth of 28 inches and an average payout of $24,440. Additionally, properties in Zone X, Zone X_UNSHADED, and unknown zones have collectively accounted for hundreds of claims with average recorded water depths ranging from 2 to 16 inches, indicating that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Rockingham County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,524 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 11 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 2006, with 265 claims and $5.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms and 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.
80 NOAA storm reports from Rockingham County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New Hampshire flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 9, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Mar 13, 2018 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Mar 2, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 26, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Feb 8, 2013 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
122 since 1996: 15 flash floods, 28 river or area floods and 74 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 13, 2024 | $200,000 |
| Coastal Flood | Jan 13, 2024 | $30.0M |
| Coastal Flood | Mar 10, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Jan 10, 2024 | $15.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 18, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jan 13, 2024. The second severe storm in a week���s time struck the northern New England coastline during the middle of January. An intense and rapidly deepening area of low pressure over the Great Lakes region (979 mb) combined the highest astronomical tides of the month to produce extreme flooding along the coast. Portland had its all-time storm tide, posting a record flood water level (records 1912-present). The Hampt…
Coastal Flood · Jan 13, 2024. The second severe storm in a week���s time struck the northern New England coastline during the middle of January. An intense and rapidly deepening area of low pressure over the Great Lakes region (979 mb) combined the highest astronomical tides of the month to produce extreme flooding along the coast. Portland had its all-time storm tide, posting a record flood water level (records 1912-present). The Hampt…
Coastal Flood · Mar 10, 2024. High pressure in control on the 9th began to slide northeast through the day as primary low pressure moved through the Great Lakes into southern Canada. A secondary area of low pressure developed over inland areas of the Carolinas. Sustained warm air advection forced a large area of moderate to heavy precipitation up and over the colder near-surface air mass. Light precipitation began as a mix, but in the higher e…
Coastal Flood · Jan 10, 2024. A powerful storm tracked northeast through the Mid Mississippi River Valley on the 9th, rapidly deepening as it approached the southern Great Lakes. Precipitation formed along and ahead of the advancing warm front, which arrived in part of northern New England during the evening of the 9th. High pressure anchored to the north of Maine dammed low level cold air up against the mountains and allowed precipitation to…
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 Rockingham 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.