339 flood insurance claims·$3.0M paid·6 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 Centre 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 and river flooding dominate the flood history of Centre County, supported by 22 flash flood events, 15 flood events, and 1 tropical storm recorded over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including a prolonged early spring storm system that brought 2 to 4 inches of rain and flooded creeks and rivers from April 1 to April 3, 2024, as well as heavy rainfall on September 23, 2021, which dropped between 5 and 5.50 inches of rain and caused flooding and road closures in State College, Bellefonte, and surrounding areas.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A, which accounts for the highest volume of claims at 191 with an average payout of $13,900 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Properties in Zone X, Zone X_SHADED, and Zone X_UNSHADED also require careful review, as these areas have recorded average water depths ranging from 6 to 33 inches per claim, with Zone X_SHADED specifically showing an average recorded water depth of 33 inches across 15 claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Centre County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
218 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 90 claims and $2.0M 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Centre County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 20, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 26, 2013 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| 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 And Flooding | Jan 19, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 22 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 28, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Sep 23, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 20, 2016 | $5.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 25, 2025. A surface cold front stationed across northern Pennsylvania allowed for scattered showers and thunderstorms to form in an environment with ample instability and limited shear during the afternoon and evening hours of June 25, 2025. These slow-moving showers and thunderstorms quickly became strong-to-severe with the aforementioned instability and were able to sustain and produce isolated instances of thunderstorm w…
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…
Flood · Jul 28, 2023. A cluster of showers and thunderstorms developed over south-central Pennsylvania during the afternoon of July 28, 2023, just south of a frontal boundary that was draped from northwest to southeast across Pennsylvania. This cluster of storms produced sporadic wind damage as it progressed eastward across the Cumberland and Lower Susquehanna valleys. Additional showers and storms developed just north of the track of…
Flood · Sep 23, 2021. Heavy rain brought flooding to portions of eastern Centre and Northeast Mifflin county on September 23rd. ||The National Weather Service State College reported that the area around Aaronsburg, Spring Mills, and Alfarata in eastern Centre and northeastern Mifflin Counties received between 5-5.50 inches of rain.||Flooding and road closures were reported in State College, Bellefonte, Park Forest Village, Woodward, B…
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 Centre 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.