13 flood insurance claims·$349,646 paid·9 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 Essex 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 dominates the flood risk profile in Essex County, Vermont, accounting for 18 of the 28 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 10 general flood events. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including severe flash flooding driven by slow-moving thunderstorms that dropped 4 to 8 inches of rain in July 2024, as well as heavy tropical showers from a weak cold front in July 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims are heavily concentrated in designated high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 8 claims with an average payout of $68,097 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Properties in Zone UNKNOWN recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $3,053 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone X and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded minimal payouts and 0 inches of average water depth.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located within Zone A and other unmapped or low-elevation areas should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the historical frequency of intense summer flash floods and the significant payout averages associated with high-risk zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 1 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 6 claims and $330,753 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Essex County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Vermont flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Depression Debby | Aug 8, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 29, 2024 |
| Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 9, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 9, 2024 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Dec 18, 2023 |
| Flooding | Jul 9, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 7, 2023 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Dec 22, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2025 | $125,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2024 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2023 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2023 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Nov 1, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2017 | $7,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 10, 2025. A weak cold front slowly moved across northern NY and VT during the afternoon and evening hours of July 10th. Several rounds of tropical showers and thunderstorms traversed the area with a few storms pulsing to severe limits and localized excessive rainfall (4-5+ inches) in NE VT leading to localized flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2024. A cluster of nearly stationary thunderstorms affected portions of Caledonia, Essex and Orleans Counties in northeastern Vermont during the early to mid morning hours of July 30, 2024. This produced rainfall amounts from 4 to as much as 8 inches in these areas which led to severe, and in some cases catastrophic flash flooding. The department of highways, state/local emergency management, and NWS Storm Surveys confi…
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.
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 Essex 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.