290 flood insurance claims·$4.7M paid
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 Medina 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Medina County, accounting for 40 out of 51 total recorded flood events in the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, alongside 11 general flood events. This risk is driven by warm, moist air masses and stationary boundaries producing heavy rainfall, as seen during severe flash flood events in August 2023 and May 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones. Properties in FEMA Zone A experienced the highest volume with 164 claims averaging an $15,691 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 69 claims with an average payout of $41,917 and an average water depth of 5 inches, and 14 claims in unshaded Zone X averaged an 11-inch water depth with a $13,535 average payout.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within designated Zone A riverine and low-lying areas, as well as properties in Zone X where lower-frequency flooding has resulted in higher average claim payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Medina County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
178 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 6 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 2014, with 45 claims and $1.9M 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.
24 NOAA storm reports from Medina County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1965.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| 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 |
| Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, And High Winds | Jul 21, 2003 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Nov 10, 2002 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding | Jul 12, 1992 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
51 since 1996: 40 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2023 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2021 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2021 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 7, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 7, 2020 | $1.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 23, 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…
Flash Flood · May 14, 2022. Northern Ohio resided in the warm sector as a surface trough axis moved generally eastward through the region during the afternoon and early evening of the 14th. Low-level convergence and ascent along the trough axis acted as a focus for the development of isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms. This convection occurred in an environment comprised of weak to moderate MUCAPE and DCAPE, respectively, and we…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2021. A cold front moved southeastward from Lower Michigan to Lake Erie during the evening and overnight of the 15th and then stalled in vicinity of the southern lakeshore by daybreak. This was in response to one surface low moving northeastward from southwestern Quebec toward the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, while another low moved along the front from eastern Iowa to near the Michigan/Indiana border. Ahead of th…
Flash Flood · Jul 12, 2021. A stationary boundary was situated from west to east across northern OH on July 12th, 2021, and would lift north to Lake Erie by late afternoon. This allowed for a warm, unstable airmass to reside over the region, with surface dewpoints in the low 70s, and PWAT values in the 1.8 to 1.9 range. MLCAPE values were near 1000 j/kg, with slow storm motions in the 20 to 25 kt. range. Deep layer bulk shear was generally l…
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 Medina 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.