722 flood insurance claims·$10.1M paid·5 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 Fayette 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 character of Fayette County, PA, accounting for 119 events and 1 death over the last 30 years alongside 38 general flood events. Recent severe conditions are exemplified by flash flood events in June 2025, where a stationary boundary and near-climatological maximum precipitable water combined with weak steering flow to cause storms to train over one another, producing 2 to 4 inches of rainfall in as little as an hour.
Historical National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that property damage occurs across multiple zones, with Zone A recording the highest claim volume at 488 claims with an average payout of $16,550 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X properties experienced higher average severity per claim, with 81 claims averaging a $38,985 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas designated as Zone A, as well as properties in Zone X that face significant localized water accumulation despite lower overall claim frequencies.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Fayette County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
540 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 6 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 132 claims and $880,670 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
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.
56 NOAA storm reports from Fayette County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 26, 2013 |
| 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 |
| Snow | Feb 14, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
157 since 1996: 119 flash floods and 38 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | $10,000 |
— = 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 15, 2025. Stationary boundary and near climatological max precpitable water led to another round of showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall on the 15th. With weak steering flow, storms were allowed to train over one another, producing rainfall amounts in the 2-4 inches range in as little as an hour.
Flash Flood · Jun 4, 2024. A cluster of showers and thunderstorms slowly moved north across Fayette county as outflow prompted new development. Localized flash flooding was reported in and around Uniontown, PA.
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 Fayette 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.