250 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·3 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 Jefferson 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.
River flooding and flash flooding dominate the flood risk profile in Jefferson County, New York, supported by occurrences of coastal and lakeshore flooding over the past thirty years. According to NOAA Storm Events data, the county recorded 19 floods resulting in 1 death, 10 flash floods, 7 coastal floods, and 5 lakeshore floods. Recent events include the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Debby tracking northeast across the region on August 9, 2024, which brought heavy rain and multiple reports of flash flooding alongside strong to severe thunderstorms.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties in Zone A experienced the highest volume of historical claims, totaling 150 claims with an average payout of $20,973 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone UNKNOWN (37 claims, averaging $1,542 and 3 inches of water), Zone X (31 claims, averaging $8,663 and 24 inches of water), Zone X_UNSHADED (31 claims, averaging $14,102 and 14 inches of water), and Zone X_SHADED (1 claim, averaging $2,974 and 8 inches of water). Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and mapped flood zones, as well as areas susceptible to heavy rainfall and tropical system remnants.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
18% of Jefferson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
182 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 9 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 2017, with 45 claims and $752,243 paid, the year of 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.
33 NOAA storm reports from Jefferson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New York flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 8, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Nov 18, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 31, 2019 |
| Flooding | May 2, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding | Nov 17, 2014 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 13, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
41 since 1996: 10 flash floods, 19 river or area floods and 12 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Dec 11, 2021 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Nov 27, 2019 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Nov 21, 2019 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | May 20, 2019 | $1.5M |
| Flood | May 17, 2019 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Aug 9, 2024. The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Debby tracked northeast across Central New York on Friday August 9. As the system tracked across the region, heavy rain pushed into parts of the forecast area, with the heaviest rain falling over the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and up to the North Central New York areas. Flash Flooding was the primary threat from the remnants of the system, but some strong to severe thunderstorms a…
Flash Flood · Aug 9, 2024. The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Debby tracked northeast across Central New York on Friday August 9. As the system tracked across the region, heavy rain pushed into parts of the forecast area, with the heaviest rain falling over the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and up to the North Central New York areas. Flash Flooding was the primary threat from the remnants of the system, but some strong to severe thunderstorms a…
Flood · Mar 28, 2021. While snowfall was well below normal for the season, there were still several inches of liquid equivalent in the snowpack on the Tug Hill coming into the end of March. This rapidly melted with a brief and abrupt warm up toward the end of the month, resulting in a rapid but short-lived rise on the Black River in Watertown on March 28-29. The Black River crested at 10.1 feet, which is just slightly above the flood s…
Lakeshore Flood · Dec 11, 2021. Two Pacific shortwave troughs promoted the formation and deepening of a surface low that tracked from the Great Plains, across southern Lake Michigan, and eventually to near James Bay while deepening below 980 mb. This pushed a strong cold front crossed our region. A strong isallobaric couplet with large pressure rises and a low-level jet of 75 knots just a few thousand feet off the ground supported a high wind ev…
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 Jefferson 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.