2,106 flood insurance claims·$32.7M paid·9 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 Lancaster 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 profile of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 106 flash flood events compared to 60 general flood events and 1 tropical storm, with general floods resulting in 5 deaths. Recent events include multiple flash floods driven by slow-moving warm fronts, high moisture, and thunderstorm clusters during June 2025.
Federal insurance data demonstrates that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Properties in FEMA Zone A account for the vast majority of claims with 1,282 filings, an average payout of $23,586, and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. However, properties in other zones also experience significant impacts. Zone X records show 164 claims with an average payout of $27,224 and an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X shaded areas logged 119 claims averaging an 11-inch water depth and $16,584 in payouts.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A along waterways, as well as homes situated in Zone X and shaded Zone X areas where localized flooding frequently produces property damage and substantial water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
16% of Lancaster County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,525 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 9 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 2011, with 477 claims and $15.9M paid, the year of Tropical Storm Lee and Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee.
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.
54 NOAA storm reports from Lancaster County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms | Feb 5, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jun 23, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
167 since 1996: 106 flash floods and 60 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2025. A surface cold front was stationed near the Mason-Dixon line, with an area of surface low pressure developing and tracking across southern portions of central Pennsylvania. This brought increasing moisture across the area, with ample low-level and effective bulk shear allowing for multiple thunderstorms to develop during the morning and afternoon hours on July 31, 2025. Isolated thunderstorm development in Lancast…
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2025. A slow-moving warm front in an extremely moist (PWAT values exceeding 2.00, values closer to 2.25 across the Lower Susquehanna Valley) and unstable environment allowed for multiple clusters of thunderstorms to begin to form during the late morning hours and continue through the late evening hours of June 30, 2025. A shortwave trough stationed across the region allowed for enhanced lift, with relatively weak shear…
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. A warm front moving across central Pennsylvania during the morning hours of June 28, 2025 with a surface cold front stationed in the Great Lake region allowed for much of central Pennsylvania to reside in the warm sector during the early afternoon and evening hours. Increasing instability, shear, and moisture due to this residence time primed the atmosphere ahead of a prefrontal trough allowing for ample lift to p…
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2025. A frontal boundary stationed across western Pennsylvania allowed for showers and thunderstorms to form during the morning hours of June 27, 2025. Favorable instability and marginal shear across central Pennsylvania allowed for thunderstorm development to begin by late morning and continue into the evening hours. Ample moisture in place allowed for heavy rainfall in nearly stationary storms across portions of the L…
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 Lancaster 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.