189 flood insurance claims·$2.9M 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 Clarion 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 in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. NOAA Storm Events Database records show 49 flash flood events and 21 general flood events over the last 30 years, resulting in one death from flash flooding. Severe weather systems have repeatedly impacted the region, including training thunderstorms that produced flash flooding in June 2025 and heavy showers driven by a frontal zone in April 2024.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones, with the highest concentration of claims occurring in high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A recorded 92 claims with an average water depth of 11 inches and an average payout of $27,986. Meanwhile, Zone X properties accounted for 34 claims with an average water depth of 8 inches and an average payout of $12,331, and Zone UNKNOWN properties recorded 59 claims with an average water depth of 3 inches and an average payout of $5,057.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in designated high-risk riverine areas like Zone A, as well as properties with unmapped or unknown flood designations where historical claims demonstrate significant vulnerability to rising water.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Clarion County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
96 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 1996, with 57 claims and $1.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes.
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.
33 NOAA storm reports from Clarion County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jul 19, 1996 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 19, 1996 |
| Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm | Mar 13, 1993 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
70 since 1996: 49 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 6, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2023 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2023 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2025. The stalled boundary began to lift north during the day on the 17th but remained the focus of diurnal convection. While the front did eventually shift off to the east on the 18th, additional storms were able to fire with the lingering moist airmass as an upper level disturbance approached.
Flash Flood · Jun 9, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front on the 9th. A few training storms produced isolated flash flooding in Ohio and PA.
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…
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 Clarion 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.