39 flood insurance claims·$139,411 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 Orleans 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 profile of Orleans County, New York, accounting for 14 out of 28 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 7 coastal flood events, 6 standard flood events, and 1 lakeshore flood event.
Recent events illustrate these severe weather patterns. On July 29, 2023, a mid-level impulse and a stalled frontal boundary produced slow-moving thunderstorms, heavy rain, and flash flooding across the western Niagara Frontier. Earlier, on July 27, 2020, converging lake breeze boundaries from Lake Erie and south of Lake Ontario caused thunderstorms to train over the region for hours, producing some of the area's heaviest recorded rains.
NFIP claim records show impacts across multiple zones, indicating that property owners in both designated high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk areas experience losses. Zone A recorded 17 claims with an average payout of $6,680 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while unshaded Zone X accounts for 14 claims with an average payout of $8,945 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners in these designated flood zones, as well as those in unshaded Zone X areas, should pay the closest attention to local flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
45% of Orleans County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
31 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 1 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 8 claims and $60,006 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Orleans County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New York flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | May 2, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Mar 14, 2017 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 13, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 14 flash floods, 6 river or area floods and 8 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 29, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2020 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | May 20, 2019 | $1.0M |
| Flood | May 17, 2019 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2019 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Aug 1, 2019 | $25,000 |
| Coastal Flood | May 2, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 27, 2020. A hot and very moist air mass was in place across the region with dewpoints in the 70s and precipitable water values approaching 2 inches. Diurnal instability along a lake breeze boundary allowed for convection to develop. The most notable thing about these boundaries was the intersection of the boundary off of Lake Erie with a weaker one south of Lake Ontario. Thunderstorms developed and trained along this inters…
Lakeshore Flood · May 20, 2019. Excessive runoff into the Ottawa River Basin in Canada restricted the outlet of Lake Ontario. This combined with above normal precipitation into the Lake Ontario Basin, record levels on the Great Lakes above Lake Ontario, and higher than normal flows into the lake from the Niagara River pushed the lake to well above normal levels. Over the course of May, the levels quickly approached those reached in 2017.
Flood · May 17, 2019. Excessive runoff into the Ottawa River Basin in Canada restricted the outlet of Lake Ontario. This combined with above normal precipitation into the Lake Ontario Basin, record levels on the Great Lakes above Lake Ontario, and higher than normal flows into the lake from the Niagara River pushed the lake to well above normal levels. Over the course of May, the levels quickly approached those reached in 2017, surpass…
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 Orleans 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.