1,803 flood insurance claims·$9.8M paid·2 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 Chautauqua County, New York. 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 from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Chautauqua County, New York, accounting for 94 of the 122 total flood events recorded by the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, alongside 15 lakeshore flood events and 13 general flood events.
Recent occurrences documented by NOAA illustrate these patterns, including heavy rainfall from slow-moving thunderstorms along a Lake Erie lake breeze boundary in June 2025, and a cold front tracking across the region that triggered heavy rainfall and a Flash Flood Warning in April 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims concentrated in specific zones. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 1,419 claims averaging a $5,577 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. However, properties in Zone X recorded higher average severity, with 17 claims averaging a $47,578 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, and 108 claims in unshaded Zone X_UNSHADED averaging a $21,741 payout with an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X variants should pay the closest attention to these differing claim histories and water depth averages.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Chautauqua County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,572 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 1979, with 444 claims and $1.0M 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.
102 NOAA storm reports from Chautauqua County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New York flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Nov 18, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 31, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Nov 17, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 13, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 26, 2013 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 8, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
122 since 1996: 94 flash floods, 13 river or area floods and 15 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 21, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 21, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2023 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Dec 23, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 21, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jul 29, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 21, 2025. A mid level trough and cold front tracking across the region caused showers and thunderstorms to develop on the afternoon of Monday April 21st. Some of the thunderstorms caused gusty winds and heavy rainfall, with at least one of the storms causing enough heavy rainfall to prompt the need for a Flash Flood Warning.
Flood · Apr 21, 2025. A mid level trough and cold front tracking across the region caused showers and thunderstorms to develop on the afternoon of Monday April 21st. Some of the thunderstorms caused gusty winds and heavy rainfall, with at least one of the storms causing enough heavy rainfall to prompt the need for a Flash Flood Warning.
Flash Flood · Jun 18, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms developed along a Lake Erie lake breeze boundary during the late morning of June 18th. With the very high moisture laden airmass over the area, heavy rain occurred within some of the showers and thunderstorms that developed. Some of the thunderstorms, especially early, trained over the same area long enough to cause flash flooding issues. Additional showers and thunderstorms developed dur…
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2023. After a extended period with no severe weather, active weather returned to the area as a deep upper trough and surface low over the Great Lakes pushed a warm front northward across the region in the morning before a cold front quickly swept in during the afternoon. An embedded impulse along with building instability ahead of the front supported severe thunderstorms most of the afternoon. The majority of reports we…
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 Chautauqua 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.