1,117 flood insurance claims·$8.5M paid·7 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 Blair 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 risk profile in Blair County, Pennsylvania. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 37 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 20 standard flood events causing 1 death, and 1 tropical storm. Recent high-moisture weather patterns have driven significant activity, including flash flooding caused by slow-moving thunderstorms and warm fronts in June 2025 that closed roadways across the region.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk zones. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of claims with 781 filed, averaging $10,878 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. However, properties outside designated high-risk areas also sustain damage. Zone X recorded 101 claims with an average payout of $11,271 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches, while Shaded Zone X recorded 99 claims with an average payout of $8,606 and an average depth of 8 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties saw 71 claims averaging $8,526 with an average water depth of 5 inches, and unknown zones logged 64 claims averaging $2,487 with an average depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in Zone A due to the high volume of claims, while acknowledging that properties in Zone X and its sub-categories also face substantial flood and water-depth risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
18% of Blair County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
951 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 7 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 302 claims and $2.6M 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.
12 NOAA storm reports from Blair County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| 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 | Jul 21, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
58 since 1996: 37 flash floods and 20 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 9, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 22, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Sep 1, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2025. A slow-moving surface warm front stationed across western Pennsylvania allowed for slow-moving showers and thunderstorms to form across southwestern Pennsylvania in an environment of anomalously moist air with long, skinny CAPE and enhanced low-level shear. Showers and thunderstorms across southwestern Pennsylvania initially formed during the early afternoon hours and continued into the evening hours, producing nu…
Flash Flood · Jun 9, 2025. A low pressure system stationed along the Hudson Bay allowed for central Pennsylvania to experience a brief period in the warm sector during the afternoon hours of June 9, 2025 ahead of a mid-level trough. This trough aided in large-scale ascent ahead of a surface cold front that aided in supercell development across western and central Pennsylvania during the afternoon and evening with the trailing cold front, al…
Flood · Jun 9, 2025. A low pressure system stationed along the Hudson Bay allowed for central Pennsylvania to experience a brief period in the warm sector during the afternoon hours of June 9, 2025 ahead of a mid-level trough. This trough aided in large-scale ascent ahead of a surface cold front that aided in supercell development across western and central Pennsylvania during the afternoon and evening with the trailing cold front, al…
Flood · Apr 3, 2024. A stationary front followed by a significant early spring storm system led to a prolonged period of wet weather from April 1 into April 3, 2024. Central Pennsylvania received 2-4 (locally 5+) of rain falling over roughly a 72-hour period, which led to flooding of creeks and rivers in some areas. Additionally, WFO CTP received a call from WFO PHI that a dam on Octoraro Creek in western Chester County was performing…
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 Blair 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.