1,233 flood insurance claims·$49.7M paid·14 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 Washington 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 profile of Washington County, with 54 flash flood events and 30 general flood events recorded over the last 30 years.
Recent events illustrate this risk. On June 23, 2024, persistent heavy showers produced 2 to 3-plus inches of rainfall in a 2 to 3-hour window, resulting in flash flooding. Later that summer, on July 10, 2024, the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl combined with deep tropical moisture to produce multiple rounds of heavy storms and numerous reports of flash flooding across the region.
Property owners in FEMA Zone A should pay the closest attention, as this zone accounts for the vast majority of historical insurance claims—1,067 claims with an average payout of $52,152 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. However, properties in Zone X, shaded Zone X, and unshaded Zone X also carry risk, collectively recording 128 claims with average water depths ranging from 11 to 17 inches and average payouts exceeding $33,000.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Washington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,129 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 453 claims and $18.8M 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.
68 NOAA storm reports from Washington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Vermont flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 14 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Tropical Depression Debby | Aug 8, 2024 |
| Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 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 Storms And Flooding | Apr 15, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
84 since 1996: 54 flash floods and 30 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2024 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $2.5M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2024 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2023 | $750,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2023 | $100.0M · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2023 | $1.0M |
— = 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 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 Washington 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.