134 flood insurance claims·$3.9M paid·10 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 Sullivan 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 risk profile in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, based on NOAA storm event data recording 23 flash floods, 14 general floods, and 1 tropical storm over the last 30 years. Recent conditions are exemplified by slow-moving thunderstorms in July 2025 that produced rainfall rates topping two inches per hour, occurring within a moist air mass and saturated soils that triggered widespread flooding and water rescues.
NFIP claim records indicate that properties situated in Zone A face the highest concentration of risk, accounting for 113 claims with an average payout of $31,966 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. By comparison, Zone X properties recorded 15 claims with an average payout of $45,702 and an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED properties logged 2 claims averaging a $9,638 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone UNKNOWN accounts for 4 claims with an average payout of $32,001 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where historical claims and average water depths are significantly higher than in other zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Sullivan County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
115 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 59 claims and $2.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding, Hurricane Irene, 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Sullivan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 9, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 10, 2018 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 20, 2016 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| Tropical Storm Lee | Sep 3, 2011 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 5, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 14, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 14, 2025. A fairly moist and unstable environment ahead of a shortwave trough allowed for showers and thunderstorms to begin forming across central Pennsylvania during the morning hours of July 14, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms became more numerous into the early afternoon hours, pushing eastward through the evening hours. Saturated soils across eastern Pennsylvania from recent flooding allowed for numerous instances of f…
Flood · Jul 14, 2025. A shortwave trough, moving through an unstable and extremely moist air mass (PWATs over 2.00) over central Pennsylvania, allowed for showers and thunderstorms to develop across the area during the afternoon hours of July 13, 2025. Thunderstorms in this environment began to become strong-to-severe; however, rainfall rates within the thunderstorms were the most notable feature, topping out over two inches per hour.…
Flash Flood · Jul 13, 2025. A shortwave trough, moving through an unstable and extremely moist air mass (PWATs over 2.00) over central Pennsylvania, allowed for showers and thunderstorms to develop across the area during the afternoon hours of July 13, 2025. Thunderstorms in this environment began to become strong-to-severe; however, rainfall rates within the thunderstorms were the most notable feature, topping out over two inches per hour.…
Flood · Mar 5, 2025. Heavy rain combined with snow melt and an ice jam to cause minor flooding near Forksville in Sullivan County on March 5, 2005. The ice jam occurred on Mill Creek just above its confluence with Lick Creek.
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 Sullivan 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.