123 flood insurance claims·$1.9M 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 Seneca 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 Seneca County, supported by 23 flash flood events compared to 9 general flood events over the last 30 years. NOAA storm records illustrate this pattern, including repeated rounds of intense rainfall that caused flash flooding on July 16, 2025, and a moist air mass that drove organized storm activity on August 24, 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A properties have experienced the highest concentration of impacts, accounting for 90 claims with an average payout of $14,692 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have recorded 18 claims with a higher average payout of $49,288 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in Zone A and Zone X should pay the most attention to flood risk, given the history of repeated flash flooding and recorded claim payouts across these zones in Seneca County.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Seneca County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
93 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 11 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 2008, with 34 claims and $629,110 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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Seneca County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1965.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Aug 20, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Dec 22, 2004 |
| Snow | Dec 22, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Nov 10, 2002 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 26, 1978 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
32 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2022 | $250,000 |
| Flood | May 11, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 23, 2013 | $40,000 |
| Flood | Dec 22, 2013 | $5,000 · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2013 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2025. A weak warm front lifted north across northern Ohio early in the day on July 16, 2025, bringing a warm and unstable airmass to the region. A shortwave trough lifting northeast across the region during the day promoted scattered shower and thunderstorm activity. Repeated rounds of rainfall affected Seneca County during the day, with particularly intense rainfall during the early evening hours bringing flash floodin…
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…
Flash Flood · Aug 21, 2022. Weak surface low pressure slowly moved across northwest Ohio over the southern shore of Lake Erie in north central Ohio during the afternoon and evening hours of August 21st. A warm front was oriented from west to east across the area just south of the lakeshore, while a trailing cold front slowly advanced eastward behind the low. In the warm sector, MUCAPE values of 1000-1500 j/kg, weak deep layer shear, and prec…
Flood · May 11, 2021. A surface area of low pressure tracked from the high plains crossing northern Ohio on Sunday May 9th. Widespread light to moderate rain developed Sunday morning and was ongoing through much of the day. Temperatures were in the upper 30s to low 40s, and some snowflakes mixed in midday. As the system moved east, rain turned to snow in the primary snowbelt with reports up to 2��� in northwest Pennsylvania and G…
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 Seneca 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.