422 flood insurance claims·$6.1M paid·6 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 Herkimer 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 slow-moving thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Herkimer County, supported by a historical mix of 142 flash flood events, 116 general flood events, and 2 tropical storms over the last 30 years. This risk is illustrated by slow-moving thunderstorms that dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain in a 1 to 2 hour period on May 6, 2025, concentrating flooding in the villages of Ilion, Mohawk, and Herkimer, and causing renewed flooding from Frankfort to Herkimer during an evening round of heavy rain.
NFIP insurance claims data demonstrates that properties across multiple zones face financial risk, with the highest volume of claims occurring in Zone A with 281 claims averaging $13,181 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Additional claims are distributed across Zone X_UNSHADED (48 claims, averaging $24,774 and 12 inches of water depth), Zone X (47 claims, averaging $40,627 and 13 inches of water depth), Zone UNKNOWN (29 claims, averaging $2,675 and 8 inches of water depth), and Zone X_SHADED (17 claims, averaging $10,534 and 19 inches of water depth). Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, as well as those in various Zone X designations that experience significant average claim payouts and recorded water depths during severe weather events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Herkimer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
346 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 10 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 2013, with 158 claims and $2.0M 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.
108 NOAA storm reports from Herkimer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New York flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 31, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Mar 14, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 13, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 26, 2013 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 7, 2011 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 26, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
260 since 1996: 142 flash floods and 116 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 6, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flood | May 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 6, 2025. Slow-moving thunderstorms resulted in flooding and flash flooding across portions of southern Herkimer County during the afternoon and early evening hours on May 6, 2025. Flooding was mostly concentrated within the villages of Ilion, Mohawk and Herkimer, where 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in a 1 to 2 hour period. While most of the flooding occurred with an initial batch of thunderstorms, an additional round of heavy…
Flash Flood · May 6, 2025. Slow-moving thunderstorms resulted in flooding and flash flooding across portions of southern Herkimer County during the afternoon and early evening hours on May 6, 2025. Flooding was mostly concentrated within the villages of Ilion, Mohawk and Herkimer, where 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in a 1 to 2 hour period. While most of the flooding occurred with an initial batch of thunderstorms, an additional round of heavy…
Flood · Dec 18, 2023. An area of low pressure tracked up the East Coast and intensified in the process as it brought widespread moderate to heavy rainfall across eastern New York on December 18, 2023. Rainfall totals were between 2 and 5 inches with the highest amounts across the eastern Catskills. This rain led to both areal and river flooding across the region. Some rivers didn't recede until December 22.||States of Emergency were is…
Flood · Aug 4, 2023. A slow moving low pressure system brought multiple rounds of scattered showers and thunderstorms across eastern New York from August 3 to August 4, 2023. Isolated thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours on August 3 in the system's warm sector producing locally damaging wind gusts, small hail and also a funnel cloud. Additional thunderstorm activity developed ahead of a cold front during the morning hour…
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 Herkimer 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.