120 flood insurance claims·$880,001 paid·4 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 Mercer 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 Mercer County, accounting for 82 of the 105 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 23 general flood events. Recent documented instances include thunderstorms training along a stationary boundary that caused road flooding in September 2022, and a warm front passage coupled with an upper trough that produced isolated urban flash flooding in July 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims occur across multiple zones, with distinct payout and depth patterns. Zone X_SHADED properties recorded the highest average water depth at 10 inches with an average payout of $24,287, followed by Zone X_UNSHADED with an average depth of 8 inches and a $18,062 average payout. Zone A properties recorded an average water depth of 3 inches with an average payout of $7,234, while Zone X properties averaged 1 inch of water depth and a $7,432 payout. Unknown zones averaged 2 inches of water depth with a $1,893 payout.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in shaded and unshaded Zone X areas, as well as Zone A, should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the significant average water depths and insurance payouts recorded in these designations.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
33% of Mercer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
92 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 4 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 2003, with 16 claims and $121,275 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Mercer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 4 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 And Flooding | Jan 19, 1996 |
| Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm | Mar 13, 1993 |
| Severe Storms, High Winds & Tornadoes | May 31, 1985 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
105 since 1996: 82 flash floods and 23 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Nov 11, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 4, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2021 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2019 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2025. A crossing cold front and weak shortwave passage spawned of scattered clusters of thunderstorms in an environment with 1500-2000 J/kg MLCAPE, >1000 J/Kg DCAPE, and weak deep layer shear. Some storms were severe with damaging wind.
Flash Flood · Jul 20, 2023. The passage of a warm front during the morning of July 20th provided a moist and unstable air mass. A strong, progressive upper trough tracked southeastward from the Great Lakes, with an associated cold front crossing during the evening hours. Mixed-layer CAPE of up to 2500 J/kg, strong deep shear, and steep low and mid-level lapse rates were supportive of severe weather. Widespread reports of wind damage were r…
Flood · Nov 11, 2022. The remnants of Hurricane Nicole, in combination with a Great Lakes cold front, lead to heavy precipitation totals across the region. Rainfall totals of 1.5 to 3.5 inches, with localized higher totals, were common across the region. Most of the rainfall falling during the November 11th calendar day. However, flooding was limited to very isolated instances. This was due to the quite dry antecedent conditions, as…
Flash Flood · Sep 4, 2022. Thunderstorms trained along a nearly stationary boundary crossing into northwest Pennsylvania during the evening hours of September 4th, taking advantage of a moisture-laden air mass. Instances of road flooding were observed in Mercer and Venango Counties.
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 Mercer 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.