1,201 flood insurance claims·$7.7M 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 Lucas 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 and standard riverine flooding dominate the flood history of Lucas County, each accounting for 22 recorded events over the last 30 years, alongside lakeshore floods, storm surges, and coastal floods. Recent events underscore these multi-source risks, including flash flooding driven by a warm, humid cold front on June 26, 2024, and elevated water levels on Lake Erie caused by persistent northeast winds peaking at 75 inches around midnight between May 16 and 18, 2020.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims spanning multiple zones, led by Zone A with 755 claims averaging a payout of $10,766 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Zone X accounts for 159 claims with an average payout of $11,232 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED records 143 claims averaging $4,765 with an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 114 claims averaging $2,774 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X_SHADED logged 27 claims averaging $4,008 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A and Zone X, which show the highest claim volumes and greatest average water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
18% of Lucas County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
927 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 7 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 2006, with 161 claims and $2.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight Line Winds, 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.
23 NOAA storm reports from Lucas County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight Line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 21, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Power Outage | Aug 14, 2003 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 29, 2000 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding | Jul 12, 1992 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 26, 1978 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
59 since 1996: 22 flash floods, 22 river or area floods and 15 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2024 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2023 | $75,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | Apr 23, 2020 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Mar 22, 2020 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | May 16, 2020 | $250,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | Jun 14, 2020 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | May 12, 2020 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | Jun 6, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2024. A cold front drifted southeastward from central Lake Huron, southern Lower MI, and northwestern IN to southern ON, southeastern Lower MI, far-northwestern OH, and northern IN during the late morning through early evening of the 26th. The front was preceded by a warm and humid sector comprised of weak to moderate MUCAPE and DCAPE, respectively, and moderate to strong effective bulk shear in northern OH. Scattered t…
Flash Flood · Aug 24, 2023. An anomalously-warm and moist air mass was in place across much of the Central Plains and Midwest, resulting in strong to perhaps extreme instability in addition to tropical-like precipitable water values exceeding 2.0 inches. The Lower Great Lakes region, specifically northern Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania found itself on the eastern edge of this heat dome. Strong northwest flow aloft persisted along the periph…
Lakeshore Flood · Apr 23, 2020. An area of low pressure moved into the Ohio Valley on the 23rd followed by another slightly stronger low on the 25th. A near persistent north to northeast wind of 15 to 20 knots piled water up on the western basin on an already record lake levels. This supported a drawn out lakeshore flood event.
Lakeshore Flood · Mar 22, 2020. The western basin of Lake Erie from Lucas to Erie Counties was under a lakeshore flood warning on the evening of March 22nd into the early morning of the 23rd as an area of low pressure passed to the southeast of the lake. Persistent winds out of the northeast at 15 to 25 knots with higher gusts lasted for 24 hours, resulting in increased lake levels and high 2 to 4 foot breaking waves. Minor shore erosion and fl…
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 Lucas 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.