137 flood insurance claims·$1.9M paid·1 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 Genesee 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.
Genesee County experiences an even split of flood and flash flood events, driven primarily by convective storms and heavy rainfall. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 19 flood events and 19 flash flood events. Recent activity includes a strong upper-level trough and mesoscale convective vortex that brought severe thunderstorms and flash flooding in July 2024, as well as a mid-level impulse and stalled frontal boundary that produced heavy rain and flash flooding in July 2023. Additionally, a series of thunderstorms dropped one to three inches of rain in April 2017, leading to road closures, flooded basements, and rising creeks.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims are distributed across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 78 claims, averaging $21,717 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties experienced 31 claims with an average payout of $23,002 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 24 claims averaging $1,300 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Shaded Zone X and standard Zone X accounted for fewer claims with lower average payouts and minimal recorded water depths. Homeowners in Zone A and unshaded Zone X should pay the closest attention to flood risk, as these areas have recorded the highest frequency of claims and greater average water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
30% of Genesee County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
112 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 7 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 1998, with 35 claims and $286,037 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.
32 NOAA storm reports from Genesee County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New York flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 23, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Dec 23, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Nov 18, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Nov 17, 2014 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Lake Effect Snowstorm | Oct 12, 2006 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 12, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 29, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2017 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Apr 20, 2017 | $30,000 |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2017 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Nov 6, 2017 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Nov 24, 2014 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 12, 2014 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2024. A strong upper-level trough and mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) crossed western and central New York during the afternoon on July 15, 2024. Timing with the MCV corresponded with favorable daytime heating and partly to mostly sunny skies ahead of the system. This resulted in more than 2,000 J/kg of CAPE across much of the region south & southeast of Lake Ontario. Combined with the dynamic nature and the shear ass…
Flash Flood · Jul 29, 2023. A mid-level impulse and stalled out frontal boundary resulted in slow moving thunderstorms across the western Niagara Frontier that produced heavy rain and flash flooding. There were also waterspouts on Lake Erie in the afternoon as the impulse crossed the area.
Flash Flood · Jul 23, 2017. Thunderstorms developed along the lake breezes during the afternoon hours. In Allegany County, the thunderstorms that formed along the Lake Erie breeze downed trees and wires in Belmont, Scio and Andover. In Ontario County, the storms that developed on the Lake Ontario breeze downed trees and wired in Canandaigua and Crystal Beach. The thunderstorm also produced heavy downpours that resulted in areas of flash fl…
Flood · Apr 20, 2017. Several rounds of thunderstorms brought one to three inches of rain to the area in just a couple of hours. This resulted in ponding of water on area roadways. Several roads were closed by flood waters. Several basements were reported flooded in Alden. In addition, several of the faster-rising area creeks reached flood stage. At Lancaster, Cayuga Creek crested at 8.44 feet at 01:15 AM EST on the 21st. Flood stage…
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 Genesee 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.