145 flood insurance claims·$826,319 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 Sandusky 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.
Riverine flooding and flash flooding from summer storms dominate the historical flood record in Sandusky County, Ohio, supported by 27 flood events and 12 flash flood events over the last 30 years alongside lakeshore flooding and storm surge. Severe weather impacts are exemplified by an August 2023 flash flood driven by an anomalously warm, moist air mass with tropical-like precipitable water values exceeding 2.0 inches, as well as persistent northeast winds that caused Lake Erie water levels to peak at 75 inches at Marblehead during a lakeshore flood event in May 2020.
Property owners across multiple FEMA zones should pay close attention to historical payout and water depth data. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 78 claims, averaging an $5,387 payout with an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 19 claims with a higher average payout of $20,563 and an average recorded water depth of 28 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X unshaded with 19 claims averaging a $9,263 payout and 5 inches of recorded water depth, Zone Unknown with 16 claims averaging a $3,154 payout and 3 inches of water depth, and Zone X shaded with 13 claims averaging a $3,778 payout and 2 inches of water depth.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
29% of Sandusky County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
110 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 9 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 1982, with 14 claims and $30,521 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Sandusky County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 2 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 |
| Snow | Dec 22, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Nov 10, 2002 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 24, 1998 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 26, 1978 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
49 since 1996: 12 flash floods, 27 river or area floods and 10 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2023 | $150,000 |
| 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 | — |
| Lakeshore Flood | May 5, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 · 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…
Lakeshore Flood · May 16, 2020. A strengthening area of high pressure of James Bay extended down over Lake Erie. At the same time, an area of low pressure over the Central Plains increased the pressure gradient over the local area resulting in increased winds out of the east northeast. This persistent wind lead to water level rises in the western basin.||Water levels at Marblehead were elevated during a period of persistent northeast winds betwe…
Lakeshore Flood · Jun 14, 2020. High pressure built over Ontario and lingered for several days. A persistent east northeast wind around 15 to 20 knots started late on the evening of the 12th and continued and increased in speed on the 14th. Speeds gradually diminished but directions remained out of the east northeast on the 15th. The result of this persistent wind was a piling of water over the western basin and exasperated lakeshore flooding in…
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 Sandusky 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.