38 flood insurance claims·$425,559 paid·5 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 Lewis 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 dominates the flood character of Lewis County, accounting for 39 events compared to 27 standard flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Recent impacts are exemplified by the remnants of tropical cyclone Beryl on July 10, 2024, which brought significant flash flooding to western and central New York alongside tornadoes, wind damage, and hail.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates varying impacts across different zones. Zone A accounts for 21 claims with an average payout of $10,261 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Properties in Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $53,798 and an average water depth of 4 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 9 claims averaging a $1,926 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone X recorded 1 claim with a $0 average payout and 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Property owners in high-risk Zone A, where average water depths reach 12 inches, along with residents in unshaded Zone X areas experiencing higher payout severities, should pay the closest attention to flood preparedness.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Lewis County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
28 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 8 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 15 claims and $202,258 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.
55 NOAA storm reports from Lewis County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New York flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Aug 18, 2024 |
| Severe Storm, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 10, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Nov 18, 2022 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Fred | Aug 18, 2021 |
| 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 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 27, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 39 flash floods and 27 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 7, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 7, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2024. For the second day in a row, a mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) crossed western and central New York during the afternoon on July 16, 2024. Much like the day before, partly to mostly sunny skies ahead of the system increased instability across portions of the Buffalo forecast area. The primary difference with the MCV that occurred on this day, was the timing of the track of the system. The MCV moved through simil…
Flood · Jul 10, 2024. On July 10, 2024, most of western and central New York were impacted by the remnants of tropical cyclone Beryl. The event brought every type of warm season severe hazard, including 10 tornadoes across the entire state, numerous reports of wind damage, hail and significant flash flooding. ||As the remnants of Beryl approached the region, a warm front out ahead of/associated with the system provided one of the main…
Flash Flood · Jul 10, 2024. On July 10, 2024, most of western and central New York were impacted by the remnants of tropical cyclone Beryl. The event brought every type of warm season severe hazard, including 10 tornadoes across the entire state, numerous reports of wind damage, hail and significant flash flooding. ||As the remnants of Beryl approached the region, a warm front out ahead of/associated with the system provided one of the main…
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…
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 Lewis 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.