749 flood insurance claims·$7.4M paid·8 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 Perry 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.
River flooding and flash flooding from heavy rainfall dominate the flood history of Perry County, which recorded 23 flood events, 18 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, and 1 tropical storm over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent documented events include a low-pressure system and cold front passage causing locally heavy rainfall in June 2025, and a slow-moving cold front producing 2.5 to 5.0 inches of rainfall alongside small stream flooding and road closures in May 2014.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A locations account for the majority of claims with 520 filings averaging a $13,460 payout and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Moderate- and low-risk zones also experience impacts; Zone X_SHADED recorded 79 claims averaging a $12,925 payout with an average water depth of 7 inches, Zone X recorded 61 claims averaging a $14,557 payout with an average water depth of 10 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 30 claims averaging a $10,826 payout with an average water depth of 25 inches.
Properties situated within Zone A and those near streams, rivers, and low-lying areas should pay the most attention to flood risk given the frequency of heavy rainfall and flash flooding events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
17% of Perry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
629 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 12 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 196 claims and $1.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Fran.
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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Perry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 22, 2016 |
| 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 |
| Tropical Depression Ivan | Sep 17, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
42 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 23 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 10, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2014 | — |
| Flood | May 16, 2014 | — |
| Flood | Oct 10, 2013 | — |
| Flood | Apr 16, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2011 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 10, 2025. A low pressure system stationed along the Hudson Bay allowed for central Pennsylvania to experience a brief period in the warm sector during the afternoon hours of June 9, 2025 ahead of a mid-level trough. This trough aided in large-scale ascent ahead of a surface cold front that aided in supercell development across western and central Pennsylvania during the afternoon and evening with the trailing cold front, al…
Flood · Jul 1, 2025. A cold front stationed across west-central Pennsylvania began traversing eastward across the area during the afternoon hours of July 1, 2025. Ample instability and moisture ahead of the frontal passage allowed for showers and thunderstorms to develop, with thunderstorms producing rainfall rates well over an inch an hour. Shear across western and central Pennsylvania remained relatively low, keeping the severe pote…
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2015. A line of convection formed ahead of an approaching frontal system on the afternoon of June 8th, 2015. Discrete rotating supercells formed ahead of the main line of storms, and one such cell produced an EF-0 tornado in Northumberland County.
Flash Flood · Jul 27, 2014. Training thunderstorms produced isolated flash flooding during the evening across the lower Susquehanna Valley.
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 Perry 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.