210 flood insurance claims·$1.5M 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 Wood 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.
Flood risk in Wood County, Ohio is characterized by a combination of standard riverine floods and flash floods, with 21 flood events and 15 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent documented events include a low pressure system that dropped 2 to 3 inches of rainfall in May 2021, and severe storms that produced torrential rain as they moved across the Ohio border in June 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood impacts affect multiple zones differently. Zone A has recorded the highest claim volume with 111 claims averaging a $9,753 payout and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Properties in Zone X_UNSHADED averaged the highest payouts at $17,831 with an average recorded water depth of 13 inches, while Zone X_SHADED recorded the highest average water depth at 28 inches across 9 claims with an average payout of $5,531. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 56 claims averaging a $5,548 payout and an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X logged 22 claims averaging $13,051 with an average water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of historical claims, as well as unshaded and shaded Zone X properties that experience severe average water depths during heavy rain events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
16% of Wood County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
132 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 8 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 40 claims and $264,146 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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Wood County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
10 federal disaster declarations since 1969.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Nov 10, 2002 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding | Jul 12, 1992 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 26, 1978 |
| Snowstorms | Feb 2, 1977 |
| Tornadoes, Severe Storms & Flooding | Jul 15, 1969 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
36 since 1996: 15 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 10, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 20, 2020 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Jun 2, 2019 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2017 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Jun 29, 2015 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Jun 28, 2015 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2015 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 10, 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…
Flood · May 20, 2020. A slow moving upper low over Illinois combined with a conveyor belt of humid air over Ohio supported widespread showers and thunderstorms over southern and central Ohio on the afternoon and evening of the 18th. The weather conditions supported not severe weather but heavy rain. Rain rates of 2 inches an hour or higher were observed with storms that trained, or repeated over the same areas. Overnight the low sank…
Flood · Jun 2, 2019. During the morning hours of June 1, 2019, a few showers were present over western lower Michigan along a stationary front, before a developing low pressure over lower Michigan initiated thunderstorm development over southern Lower Michigan, generally oriented north to south and moving ESE. In the early afternoon, as these storms approached the Michigan/Ohio line, further storm development commenced, extending the…
Flood · Jun 1, 2019. During the morning hours of June 1, 2019, a few showers were present over western lower Michigan along a stationary front, before a developing low pressure over lower Michigan initiated thunderstorm development over southern Lower Michigan, generally oriented north to south and moving ESE. In the early afternoon, as these storms approached the Michigan/Ohio line, further storm development commenced, extending the…
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 Wood 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.