397 flood insurance claims·$4.0M paid·7 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, Ohio. 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 heavy rainfall events dominates the flood risk profile in Jefferson County, Ohio, accounting for 34 out of 48 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 14 general flood events. Recent history underscores this threat, including a July 2022 event where slow-moving thunderstorms dropped over two inches of rain in an hour, causing flash flooding in Winterville and Steubenville. Additionally, remnant moisture from Hurricane Ida produced heavy tropical rainfall and thunderstorms across the region from late August into September 2021, and widespread flash flooding occurred from April 2nd to April 3rd, 2024, when four to four and a half inches of rain fell over a multi-day period.
Property owners across multiple FEMA zones should pay close attention to this risk, particularly those in Zone A, which accounts for the highest volume of claims at 219, with an average water depth of 22 inches and an average payout of $11,832. Homeowners in Zone X, Zone X shaded, and Zone X unshaded must also take note, as these areas recorded significant average water depths of 14, 26, and 22 inches respectively, along with the highest average claim payouts ranging from $17,748 to $19,160.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
24% of Jefferson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
287 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 19 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 2004, with 202 claims and $2.8M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides, Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides.
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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Jefferson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | Feb 5, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 4, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Dec 22, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 18, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
48 since 1996: 34 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2022 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Jun 8, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 20, 2014 | $1.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 2, 2024. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms prompted a widespread flash flood problems across the Ohio River Valley on April 2nd to April 3rd. The synoptic pattern across the CONUS was a slow moving and deep elongated trough over the Great Plains phasing with a ejecting trough over the Midwest that created an area of converging moisture over eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Overall, over a span of 4 days, fo…
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2022. A cluster of slow-moving thunderstorms drifted east across the Upper Ohio Valley. A segment of training storms were focused across Jefferson County, Ohio in the area of Winterville and Steubenville, where over 2 inches fell in an hour and caused flash flooding issues in those areas.
Flash Flood · Sep 1, 2021. The remnant low pressure center of Hurricane Ida passed across West Virginia and the Central Appalachian Mountains from late August 31st through September 1st. The abundant moisture associated with the low intersected a frontal zone which was nearly stalled in the area of the Ohio Valley. Strong isentropic and frontogenetically-induced lift led to periods of heavy rain over eastern Ohio over the two-day period,…
Flash Flood · Jun 19, 2019. A quasi-stationary frontal boundary set up across Ohio and Pennsylvania on the 17th, and wavered about the region until it was kicked off to the east by a stronger frontal boundary late on the 20th. Flooding and flash flooding remained a concern through the period given an ideal setup for training storms, as well as efficient rainfall production associated with observed high PWATs and deeper warm cloud depths. S…
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.