256 flood insurance claims·$3.9M paid·11 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 Chittenden County, Vermont. 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 and tropical storm remnants dominates the flood character of Chittenden County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 42 flood events with 1 death, 36 flash flood events, and 5 lakeshore flood events. Recent severe weather includes flash flooding caused by slow-moving thunderstorms that dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain in May 2025, as well as multiple rounds of heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl in July 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, indicating flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Zone A recorded 159 claims with an average payout of $23,439 and an average water depth of 11 inches. Zone X accounted for 49 claims averaging $16,293 with an average water depth of 14 inches. Additional claims occurred in unshaded Zone X, shaded Zone X, and unknown zones, with average payouts ranging from $2,582 to $27,801 and average water depths between 4 and 14 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in high-risk riverine areas designated as Zone A should pay close attention to these hazards. Additionally, property owners in Zone X areas must remain aware of potential flood risks, as past claims demonstrate that significant water depths and property damage also occur outside traditional high-risk flood zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Chittenden County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
180 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 11 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 80 claims and $1.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Hurricane Irene.
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.
59 NOAA storm reports from Chittenden County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Vermont flood stories →
32 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Depression Debby | Aug 8, 2024 |
| Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 9, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 9, 2024 |
| Flooding | Jul 9, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 7, 2023 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Dec 22, 2022 |
| Tropical Storm Henri | Aug 22, 2021 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Oct 31, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
83 since 1996: 36 flash floods, 42 river or area floods and 5 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $200,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | $200,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2023 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Jul 16, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 17, 2025. A weak area of low pressure and associated front moved across northern NY and Vermont during the afternoon and evening hours of May 17th. This system moved across a relatively unstable airmass across the region that resulted in numerous showers and thunderstorms.||Some of the thunderstorms were severe with damaging winds and large hail upward of golf ball size (1.75 inches diameter). In addition there was heavy ra…
Flash Flood · Jul 11, 2024. The remnants of TS Beryl combined with deep tropical moisture and a stationary front draped across the region produced multiple rounds of heavy showers and storms. This led to numerous reports of flash flooding, some locally severe across a roughly 50 mile swath through Chittenden, Washington, Lamoille, Caledonia, Orleans and Essex Counties.
Flash Flood · Jul 10, 2024. The remnants of TS Beryl combined with deep tropical moisture and a stationary front draped across the region produced multiple rounds of heavy showers and storms. This led to numerous reports of flash flooding, some locally severe across a roughly 50 mile swath through Chittenden, Washington, Lamoille, Caledonia, Orleans and Essex Counties.
Flood · Dec 18, 2023. A very deep trough across the eastern seaboard allowed a deep, mild, moist flow from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean to feed into the northeast United States, including VT and NY on December 17th and 18th.||Surface low pressure across Florida on December 17th moved north along the eastern seaboard into New England on December 18th. Mild, moist air delivered 1.5 to 3+ inches of rainfall to northeast NY al…
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 Chittenden 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.