5,260 flood insurance claims·$147.4M paid·12 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 Bucks 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 Bucks County, Pennsylvania, accounting for 122 events and 12 deaths over the last 30 years out of 195 total flood events. Typical incidents are driven by stationary and approaching cold fronts producing heavy rainfall, as observed during flash flood events in June and July 2025.
Federal insurance claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend well beyond high-risk areas. Properties in FEMA Zone A experienced 3,786 claims with an average recorded water depth of 17 inches and an average payout of $33,924. Meanwhile, properties designated within various iterations of Zone X recorded 1,361 total claims, with average water depths ranging from 8 to 12 inches and average payouts reaching up to $44,179 in shaded areas.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A due to the high volume of claims and deeper average water accumulation. However, because hundreds of claims originate from Zone X and shaded Zone X properties with average water depths of 12 inches, owners of properties outside of traditionally designated high-risk flood zones must also remain attentive to localized stormwater and flash flood threats.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Bucks County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
4,353 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 16 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 2005, with 735 claims and $30.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Hurricane Katrina.
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.
38 NOAA storm reports from Bucks County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 12 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Remnants Of Hurricane Ida | Aug 31, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 4, 2014 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jun 23, 2006 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
195 since 1996: 122 flash floods, 53 river or area floods and 18 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 31, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 31, 2025. Thunderstorms, in the vicinity a cold front, produced flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2025. A stationary front sparked off showers and thunderstorms across the forecast area. Flash flooding resulted.
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2025. Scattered thunderstorms, out ahead of a cold front, produced heavy rain across portions of the Delaware Valley.
Flash Flood · May 16, 2025. Scattered thunderstorms developed along a slow moving warm front.
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 Bucks 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.