1,162 flood insurance claims·$18.8M paid·8 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 Mathews County, Virginia. 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.
Mathews County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by coastal flooding, tropical systems, and flash floods. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 13 coastal flood events, 9 flash flood events, 6 tropical storm events, 4 general flood events, 2 hurricane events, and 1 storm surge or tide event. Recent coastal flooding has been driven by prolonged northeast to north winds and long-period swells interacting with offshore low pressure systems and hurricanes, such as events in August, October, and late October 2025, which caused moderate to locally major tidal flooding over extended periods.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate claims across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 985 claims with an average payout of $18,677 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Zone V includes 92 claims averaging a $32,823 payout with an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X shows 59 claims with an average payout of $17,717 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while unknown zones account for 26 claims averaging $6,468 with an average recorded water depth of 3 inches.
Property owners in coastal areas and designated high-risk zones, particularly Zones A and V, should pay the closest attention to these persistent coastal flood and storm surge hazards.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Mathews County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,077 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 5 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 2003, with 638 claims and $12.7M paid, the year of Hurricane Isabel.
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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Mathews County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Hurricane Irene | Aug 26, 2011 |
| Tropical Depression Ernesto, Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 29, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Hurricane Isabel | Sep 18, 2003 |
| Hurricane Floyd Emergency Declarations | Sep 13, 1999 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
35 since 1996: 9 flash floods, 4 river or area floods and 14 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Oct 28, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Aug 21, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 12, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Oct 2, 2025 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Nov 15, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 22, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Jul 8, 2021 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Oct 28, 2025. Low pressure off the Mid-Atlantic coast combined with high pressure in Canada, resulting in a lengthy period of northeasterly onshore flow. Increasing tidal anomalies resulted in moderate to locally major tidal flooding over an extended period.
Coastal Flood · Aug 21, 2025. Hurricane Erin passed well offshore and combined with high pressure to the north, resulting in a period of strong onshore winds and coastal flooding across eastern Virginia and the Virginia Eastern Shore.
Coastal Flood · Oct 12, 2025. A coastal low formed off of the Southeast coast on October 11 and slowly tracked north into October 13 before moving offshore. Meanwhile, a strong 1035mb area of high pressure lingered over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. This resulted in a prolonged period of strong northeast to north winds across the Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters, which allowed for widespread moderate to major coastal flooding across eastern Vir…
Coastal Flood · Oct 2, 2025. Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda were located well offshore of the Eastern Seaboard on October 1, with high pressure over the Great Lakes and southern Canada. The combination of elevated winds and long-period swell led to coastal flooding. A few locations along the Virginia tidal rivers reached moderate flood stage from later October 1 into early October 3.
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 Mathews 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.