832 flood insurance claims·$13.3M paid·4 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 Beaver County, Pennsylvania. 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 profile of Beaver County, with NOAA Storm Events data recording 95 flash flood events compared to 63 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include training thunderstorms that caused flash flooding on June 6, 2025, and heavy showers producing efficient rainfall for flash flooding on August 13, 2025.
Federal Emergency Management Agency records show that flood claims span multiple zones, with the highest concentration occurring in high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 666 claims with an average payout of $20,871 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Additional claims are distributed across Zone X with 71 claims averaging $12,367 and 6 inches of water depth, Zone X shaded with 37 claims averaging $20,089 and 9 inches of water depth, Zone unknown with 35 claims averaging $1,442 and 9 inches of water depth, and Zone X unshaded with 23 claims averaging $17,288 and 15 inches of water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where the vast majority of historical insurance claims and the deepest average floodwaters have been recorded.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Beaver County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
726 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 14 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 2004, with 260 claims and $6.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Frances and Tropical Depression Ivan.
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.
94 NOAA storm reports from Beaver County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Tropical Depression Ivan | Sep 17, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Frances | Sep 8, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes,and Flooding | May 31, 1998 |
| Flooding, Severe Storms | Jun 12, 1996 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 19, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
158 since 1996: 95 flash floods and 63 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 6, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 29, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 13, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a prefrontal trough and again along lake and residual outflow boundaries. With PWAT values near 2.00 inches, some storms did produce efficient rainfall for flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 6, 2025. Several rounds of thunderstorms trained over portions of Lawrence, Allegheny, Westmoreland Clarion and Beaver counties on June 6th. This was a result of a very moist airmass and a stationary boundary located over northern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania. Flash flooding was reported in the aforementioned counties with considerable flooding noted in Allegheny county.
Flash Flood · Apr 11, 2024. A strong mid-level trough and an associated frontal zone crossed through the|Mid-South and took aim on the OH Valley. Strong forcing associated the energy aloft coupled with a gradually destabilizing boundary layer out ahead it set the stage for areas of locally heavy showers and thunderstorms for several hours and prompted dangerous flash flooding. A flash flood emergency was issued for portions of Allegheny Coun…
Flood · Apr 3, 2024. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms prompted a widespread flash flood problems across the Ohio River Valley on April 2nd to April 3rd. The synoptic pattern across the CONUS was a slow moving and deep elongated trough over the Great Plains phasing with a ejecting trough over the Midwest that created an area of converging moisture over eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Overall, over a span of 4 days, fo…
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 Beaver 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.