904 flood insurance claims·$11.6M 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 Snyder 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.
Flooding in Snyder County is driven primarily by general river floods and rapid flash flooding, supported by 18 flood events, 17 flash flood events with one death, and one tropical storm over the last 30 years.
Specific historical events illustrate these risks, including an ice jam along Penns Creek upstream from the Route 104 Bridge that prompted a flood advisory in March 2015. Additionally, training bands of locally heavy rain dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain over short durations across areas including Selinsgrove in May 2013, causing flash flooding from high rainfall rates.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to properties located in Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of historical claims in the county with 749 claims averaging $15,712 in payouts and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Properties in shaded and unshaded Zone X areas also require attention, having recorded 53 and 16 claims respectively, with average water depths reaching 24 inches in shaded areas and 8 inches in unshaded areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Snyder County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
818 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 15 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 227 claims and $2.8M 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.
3 NOAA storm reports from Snyder County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| 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 |
| Tropical Depression Dennis Pa | Sep 6, 1999 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
36 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 18 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 12, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2013 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Sep 7, 2011 | $230,000 |
| Flood | Mar 6, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 3, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2006 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 21, 2024. A warm front approaching central Pennsylvania in an environment of sufficient instability and shear allowed for thunderstorm formation during the late afternoon and evening hours, with multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms crossing the northern tier of Pennsylvania. The multiple rounds of heavy rainfall, coupled with local topography, allowed for flash flooding across hydrologically sensitive areas of Potter and…
Flood · Mar 12, 2015. With the milder temperatures beginning on March 11th���some minor flooding was reported across the HSA, mainly due to ice jams.||Later on Thursday March 12th an ice jam was reported by the public along Penns Creek upstream from the Route 104 Bridge, and a flood advisory was issued for parts of Union and Snyder Counties.||On March 13th and 14th temperatures again warmed along with a period of rainfall. A flo…
Flash Flood · May 8, 2013. Training bands of locally heavy rain impacted parts of the middle Susquehanna Valley during the late morning and early afternoon. A deep east-southeast flow from the Atlantic pulled high moisture into the region around an upper-level low rotating northward from MD/VA. Rainfall rates of 1-2/hour were common with localized rainfall rates as high as 4/hour. Several locations around the Lewisburg, Selinsgrove and Sunb…
Flood · Mar 10, 2011. Heavy rainfall between 1 and 2 inches over northwest Pennsylvania and 2 to 4 inches across central and eastern Pennsylvania combined with snowmelt in the northern mountains to produce significant flooding. The worst flooding occurred over the eastern half of the Commonwealth. A dozen river forecast points crested over moderate flood stage, with many others rising over cautionary and minor flood levels. Numerous ro…
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 Snyder 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.