102 flood insurance claims·$2.6M paid·10 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 Orleans 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 and standard flooding from severe weather dominate the historical flood character of Orleans County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 30 flash flood events and 29 flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include severe flash flooding on July 10, 2024, when the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl and tropical moisture produced heavy showers across Orleans and surrounding counties. Additionally, a cluster of stationary thunderstorms on July 30, 2024, dropped 4 to 8 inches of rain, causing catastrophic flash flooding with hard-hit areas including the town of Morgan.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates risk across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 63 claims, an average payout of $36,091, and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties experienced 24 claims averaging $23,981 with an average water depth of 10 inches, while Zone X properties recorded 7 claims averaging $47,836 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Shaded Zone X properties logged 6 claims averaging $9,973 with an average water depth of 10 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in high-risk Zone A, as well as properties located in Zone X variants experiencing significant recorded water depths, should pay the closest attention to these flood hazards.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
32% of Orleans County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
93 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 9 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 23 claims and $487,465 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.
47 NOAA storm reports from Orleans County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Vermont flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 10 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.
59 since 1996: 30 flash floods and 29 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2024 | $400,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2023 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2023 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2023 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 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…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2023. Scattered thunderstorms, some with torrential rainfall affected scattered areas across Vermont on July 14. Two to locally four inches of rain fell in a some areas, leading to a few reports of flash flooding and road washouts.
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 Orleans 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.