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Otsego County, NY flood insurance claims history

463 National Flood Insurance Program claims have been filed for flood losses in Otsego County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $9.0M on them. The worst year was 2006 with 196 claims. Otsego County ranks #28 of 62 in New York by claim count.

At a glance

  • 30% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 32% of all claims trace to a single event — Tropical Storm Lee (2011), which paid $2.4M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 7 of the last 10 years.
  • More flood claims than 56% of the 62 New York counties with any claims on file — and more than 3 of its 7 neighbors.
  • ZIP 13849 has the most claims in the county (178, 38%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
463
1978 – 2023
Total paid
$9.0M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
79%
365 received a payment
Average payout
$25K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
17
claims 2014 – 2023
Most recent loss
2023-12-18
data as of 2026-09-07

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Pick your ZIP code to see how many insured buildings there filed flood claims, in which years, and how much was paid. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere.

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 196 claims in 2006
 
 
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'85
 
 
 
 
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Claims by year of loss, 1978–2023. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Otsego County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Tropical Storm Lee148$2.4M$16K2011
Hurricane Irene13$155K$12K2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)9$12K$1K1996
Flooding (FEMA general label)6$9K$1K1981
Torrential rain (FEMA general label)4$33K$8K2005
March 2010 Nor'easter2$1K$7292010
Not a named storm1$6K$6K1979
Hurricane Floyd1$0$01999
December Nor'easter1$61K$61K2023
Late summer storms1$5K$5K2011

40% of claims here fall under these 10 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

Claims by flood zone

Not sure what the zone letters mean? Flood zones explained →

High-risk A zones: 304 (66%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 130 (28%)Zone not recorded: 29 (6%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)304$5.1M$17K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)130$3.9M$30K
Zone not recorded29$17K$593

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt27058%
Stream, river or lake overflow15533%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)174%
Other causes123%
Not recorded72%
Closed basin lake20%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Otsego County

32 ZIP codes in Otsego County have at least one NFIP claim. ZIP codes can cross county lines; this table counts only claims FEMA assigned to Otsego County.

13849178$3.2M38%82016
13820112$3.4M24%172022
1343930$575K6%72023
1382530$742K6%72011
1215518$218K4%42018
1332611$19K2%92017
137967$37K2%42011
121166$61K1%52022
138346$41K1%32011
120646$48K1%42022
121976$51K1%42021
133376$13K1%52017
138435$14K1%42016
138385$51K1%12006
137765$53K1%32021
138595$120K1%22011
138075$55K1%22011
138083$80K1%32021
134113$20K1%22006
133202$00%22009
113642$119K0%22011
137332$5K0%22011
134151$30K0%12006
138091$5K0%12011
138611$00%12011
137471$12K0%12006
135011$3K0%11993
137931$6K0%12011
1$4000%11979
133481$27K0%12006
133351$7K0%12006
134501$16K0%12011

Click a column to sort. Click a ZIP to load it in the lookup above.

When does Otsego County flood?

June accounts for the most flood losses (197 claims, 43%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January174%
February92%
March286%
April174%
May72%
June19743%
July174%
August163%
September15032%
October20%
November10%
December20%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20231$61K
20223$0
20213$8K
20181$0
20175$52K
20162$0
20142$0
20137$93K
20121$0
2011165$2.5M
20103$1K
20093$4K
20071$6K
2006196$6.1M
20054$33K
20041$11K
20031$2K
20011$0
20003$5K
19993$3K
19982$5K
19969$12K
19936$9K
19871$0
19863$2K
19831$471
19816$9K
19801$96
197920$18K
19788$3K

Neighboring counties

Otsego County borders 7 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Otsego County (this page)463$9.0M30%
Delaware County1,291$39.6M19%
Oneida County1,069$16.2M22%
Schoharie County666$31.4M19%
Chenango County632$11.4M29%
Herkimer County422$6.1M28%
Madison County313$4.7M13%
Montgomery County288$8.9M30%

All 62 New York counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Otsego County

Has Otsego County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2023-12-18, and claims were filed in 7 of the last 10 years (17 claims from 2014 to 2023). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-07, so the newest events may not appear yet.
Do I need flood insurance in a low-risk zone here?
Lenders generally require it only in high-risk A and V zones. But 30% of Otsego County’s claims came from moderate- and low-risk zones. Whether to buy coverage is your call — see flood zones explained and check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Can I see whether a specific house has flooded?
Not here. FEMA removes addresses before publishing, so these figures describe areas, never a property. Our guide how to check if a house has flooded lists the questions and records that can tell you about a specific home.
Why might the real number of floods be higher?
Only buildings with National Flood Insurance can file these claims, and most homes are not insured for flood. More on what the counts mean in understanding NFIP claims data.

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About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 36077, data as of 2026-09-07). They cover only properties that carried National Flood Insurance — most homes do not, and private flood policies are not included — so real flood damage is larger than these counts show. Dollar amounts are as paid, in nominal dollars. Flood zone is the zone used to rate the policy at the time, which may differ from today’s map. FEMA states this dataset is not an official federal report. Use it for background, not for a purchase, insurance or legal decision; for a specific property ask the seller for its flood disclosure or the owner’s NFIP loss history.

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