1,131 flood insurance claims·$21.1M 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 Washington 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 Washington County, Pennsylvania, accounting for 143 recorded events alongside 72 general flood events over the last 30 years, resulting in one recorded fatality.
Recent history illustrates this hazard; for example, slow-moving thunderstorms driven by ample moisture and a near-stationary boundary dumped 2 to 3 inches of rain per hour in June 2025, causing several stranded vehicles and water inundation around and into homes.
Property owners and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to locations in FEMA Flood Zone A, which has accumulated the highest impact with 786 NFIP claims, an average payout of $27,335, and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Residents in Zone X and unknown zones have also experienced significant vulnerability, logging claims with average water depths between 3 and 6 inches and average payouts ranging from $7,783 to $20,671.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Washington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
879 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 6 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 163 claims and $1.6M 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.
125 NOAA storm reports from Washington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Pennsylvania flood stories →
14 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 |
| Snow | Feb 14, 2003 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 19, 1996 |
| Blizzard Of 96 | Jan 6, 1996 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Jan 4, 1994 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
215 since 1996: 143 flash floods and 72 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2025 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | $2,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 30, 2025. Surface low pressure tracked across northern West Virginia on May 30th. One to two inches of rain on relatively wet ground led to an isolated report of flash flooding, with other instances of nuisance flooding likely occurring.
Flash Flood · Jul 26, 2025. A weak trough and remnant outflows initiated afternoon thunderstorms. Initial single cell development across eastern Ohio ultimately congealed along propagating cold pools and surged southeast. A rich moisture environment was in place with 1000-2000 J/kg MLCAPE and near 30 knots of effective shear. The storms rolled into more favorable DCAPE, as high as 1200 J/kg, farther southeast, and repeated updrafts along out…
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2025. A warm, moist airmass remained in place through the latter half of the month which allowed for daily shower and thunderstorm chances. Training storms was the primary factor to the resultant flash flooding as cells developed upshear of the initial updrafts in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. One of these storms did result in yet another round of flash flooding for portions of Wheeling WV.
Flash Flood · Jun 15, 2025. Stationary boundary and near climatological max precpitable water led to another round of showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall on the 15th. With weak steering flow, storms were allowed to train over one another, producing rainfall amounts in the 2-4 inches range in as little as an hour.
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 Washington 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.