174 flood insurance claims·$5.7M paid·12 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 Lamoille 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 heavy rain events dominates the flood character of Lamoille County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 35 flash flood events compared to 24 general flood events. Recent activity includes severe thunderstorms on May 17, 2025, that dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain, and persistent heavy showers from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl on July 10, 2024, which produced multiple rounds of flooding across a 50-mile regional swath. An earlier event on June 23, 2024, brought 2 to 3 inches of rainfall in a 2 to 3 hour window, leading to local flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that property owners in high-risk Zone A should pay the most attention, accounting for 107 claims with an average payout of $42,455 and an average recorded water depth of 20 inches. Residents in shaded Zone X areas also face significant risk, recording 23 claims with an average payout of $52,905 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties recorded 15 claims with an average payout of $18,381 and an average water depth of 24 inches, while standard Zone X properties logged 26 claims averaging $26,429 with a 2-inch average water depth.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
26% of Lamoille County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
145 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 16 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 2023, with 51 claims and $4.0M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, Flooding and Severe Storm 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.
47 NOAA storm reports from Lamoille County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Vermont flood stories →
38 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 12 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 22, 2024 |
| Tropical Depression Debby | Aug 8, 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.
59 since 1996: 35 flash floods and 24 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | $350,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2023 | $50,000 |
— = 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 · Jun 23, 2024. An area of persistent heavy showers and thunderstorms affected an area from eastern Chittenden, Lamoille, northern Washington and western Caledonia counties during late afternoon on June 23, 2024. Reliable radar estimates and ground truth reports of 2 to 3+ inches of rainfall in a 2-3 hour window, which led to several reports of flash flooding.
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 Lamoille 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.