177 flood insurance claims·$2.4M 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 Franklin 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.
River flooding and general floods dominate the historical record in Franklin County, Vermont, accounting for 38 events and 2 deaths over the last 30 years, alongside 18 flash flood events and 4 lakeshore flood events. Severe weather events are driven by heavy rainfall, dynamic low-pressure systems, and snowmelt. For example, a deep moisture feed from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean delivered 1.5 to 3 inches of rainfall combined with snowmelt during a flood event on December 18, 2023. Additionally, scattered thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall that led to flash flooding in northern Franklin County and the Richford area on July 21, 2023, while a low-pressure system brought heavy moisture on November 1, 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within Zone A have experienced the highest claim volume with 91 claims, averaging a payout of $23,885 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Properties in Zone X_UNSHADED averaged 7 inches of water depth across 21 claims with an average payout of $16,878, while Zone X properties averaged 8 inches of water depth across 19 claims with an average payout of $14,223. Zone X_SHADED properties recorded an average water depth of 21 inches across 14 claims with an average payout of $12,511, and Zone UNKNOWN recorded an average water depth of 2 inches across 32 claims with an average payout of $1,811. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A and shaded or unshaded Zone X areas should pay the most attention to flood risk given these historical claim patterns and recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
28% of Franklin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
126 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 7 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 54 claims and $1.5M 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.
36 NOAA storm reports from Franklin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Vermont flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Depression Debby | Aug 8, 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 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | Oct 29, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
60 since 1996: 18 flash floods, 38 river or area floods and 4 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2023 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2023 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 1, 2019 | $750,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 1, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jan 13, 2018 | $150,000 |
| Flood | Feb 25, 2017 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Feb 25, 2016 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 21, 2023. Scattered showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall affected the area on the evening of the 21st, leading to a few areas of flash flooding in the Richford area.
Flash Flood · Jul 21, 2023. Scattered showers and thunderstorms, a few with heavy rainfall affected portions of Vermont during the afternoon on July 21. A few storms trained across northern Franklin County, VT, leading to scattered flash flooding.
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…
Flash Flood · Nov 1, 2019. A developing area of low pressure moved from the Gulf of Mexico on during the night of the 30th and moved north into the eastern Great Lakes as it intensified during the evening of October 31st. As the surface low moved across Ontario during the night of October 31st, its associated cold front slowly edged across Vermont during the early morning hours of November 1st.||The upper level pattern was very strong and d…
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 Franklin 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.