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Cambria County, PA flood insurance claims history

802 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Cambria County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $3.2M on them. The worst year was 1996 with 215 claims. Cambria County ranks #32 of 67 in Pennsylvania by claim count.

At a glance

  • 41% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • Flood claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years — flooding here is a regular event, not a once-in-a-generation one.
  • More flood claims than 53% of the 67 Pennsylvania counties with any claims on file — and more than 3 of its 6 neighbors.
  • ZIP 15905 has the most claims in the county (182, 23%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
802
1978–2026
Total paid
$3.2M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
67%
541 received a payment
Average payout
$6K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
44
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-08-22
data as of 2026-09-08

Look up your ZIP code

Pick your ZIP code to see how many insured buildings there filed flood claims, in which years, and how much was paid — and which named floods those claims came from, which a county-wide list cannot tell you. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere. Have a street address? Run the printable flood check for it →

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 215 claims in 1996

Claims by year of loss, 1978–2026. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Cambria County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Flooding (FEMA general label)194$1.2M$6K1996
Hurricane Ida11$285K$26K2021
Flooding (FEMA general label)9$11K$1K1984
Hurricane Debby6$129K$22K2024
Tropical Storm Lee4$4K$9912011
Flooding (FEMA general label)4$1K$2561985
Tropical Storm Ivan3$23K$8K2004
Hurricane Sandy2$4K$2K2012
March 2010 Nor'easter2$0$02010
Not a named storm2$415$2081979
Flooding (FEMA general label)1$115K$115K1986
Tropical Storm Allison1$0$02001

30% of claims here fall under these 12 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

Flood zones in Cambria County: which ones the claims came from

Cambria County is not in one flood zone. FEMA draws zones parcel by parcel, so one street can be Zone AE and the next Zone X — there is no single zone for a whole county. What the claim record can tell you is which zones buildings were actually rated in when they flooded, and what each zone has cost here.

High-risk A zones: 364 (45%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 1 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 254 (32%)Zone not recorded: 183 (23%)

The most common zone on Cambria County claims is Zone A — 167 of 619 claims with a zone on file (27%). 59% were in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area, where a federally backed mortgage makes flood insurance mandatory. Open any zone below for what it means and whether it requires insurance.

Flood zone at ratingClaimsSharePaidAvg / claim
Zone A · high risk, insurance required16727%$569K$3K
Zone AE · high risk, insurance required13822%$1.1M$8K
Zone C · moderate / low risk9515%$143K$2K
Zone X · moderate / low risk9015%$569K$6K
Zone B · moderate / low risk6911%$125K$2K
Zone A1–A30 · high risk, insurance required467%$322K$7K
Zone AO · high risk, insurance required132%$145K$11K
Zone V · high risk, insurance required10%$0$0

The zone is the one used to rate the policy when the claim was paid, not today’s map — FEMA remaps areas, so a building rated AE in 1995 may sit in a different zone now. AHB and AOB are older AH / AO variants; A1–A30 and V1–V30 are numbered zones from pre-2000 maps. 183 Cambria County claims have no zone recorded and are left out of the shares above. Not sure what the letters mean? Flood zones explained →

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt35344%
Stream, river or lake overflow21226%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)20425%
Other causes253%
Not recorded51%
Earth movement or landslide30%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Cambria County

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

15905182$862K23%242021
15906126$297K16%192020
1590295$349K12%222017
1590466$219K8%192021
1590163$157K8%182014
1571433$200K4%142024
1666827$180K3%82023
1594327$80K3%102015
1594624$63K3%92021
1596218$310K2%72024
1596315$51K2%92005
1595115$19K2%72021
1594213$14K2%52012
1595810$76K1%41997
1595510$14K1%62026
159099$1K1%72012
Not reported6$21K1%41987
166406$32K1%42026
166366$62K1%42021
159565$2K1%31981
159615$8K1%41997
157755$2K1%41996
157624$8K0%41996
159304$14K0%41996
159313$28K0%32013
159213$9760%22010
159253$1K0%21998
159523$6540%21981
166303$10K0%31996
159382$121K0%21996
166462$00%11987
166392$2K0%21997
159342$11K0%22021
157241$5K0%12003
157371$6810%12002
159071$00%11981
159271$1K0%12019
163231$14K0%11996

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

When does Cambria County flood?

January accounts for the most flood losses (209 claims, 26%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January20926%
February263%
March324%
April324%
May192%
June12415%
July14318%
August405%
September11915%
October71%
November435%
December81%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20264$28K
20247$134K
20231$55K
202113$323K
20202$36K
20192$6K
201810$56K
20175$128K
20162$0
20156$24K
20144$17K
201311$70K
20124$4K
20115$8K
20106$122
20083$1K
20075$13K
20062$7K
20053$3K
200411$146K
20036$13K
20027$8K
20012$0
19991$0
19984$6K
199730$83K
1996215$1.3M
19953$0
19945$1K
199313$65K
19921$0
19901$0
19892$2K
19881$0
198755$68K
19861$115K
198510$1K
198429$16K
198333$114K
19824$6K
1981103$158K
198070$49K
197926$67K
197874$117K

Neighboring counties

Cambria County borders 6 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Cambria County (this page)802$3.2M41%
Westmoreland County1,612$21.6M35%
Bedford County1,185$13.4M14%
Blair County1,117$8.5M26%
Clearfield County537$5.9M26%
Somerset County395$2.6M25%
Indiana County387$2.4M30%

All 67 Pennsylvania counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Cambria County

Has Cambria County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-08-22, and claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years (44 claims from 2017 to 2026). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-08, so the newest events may not appear yet.
What flood zone is Cambria County in?
There is no single answer — zones are drawn parcel by parcel, so one street can be Zone AE and the next Zone X. Across 619 Cambria County claims with a zone on file, the most common was Zone A (27%), and 59% were in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. For one address, look it up on the free flood check or FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center; the zone breakdown above shows what each zone has cost here.
Do I need flood insurance in a low-risk zone here?
Lenders generally require it only in high-risk A and V zones. But 41% of Cambria 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 42021, data as of 2026-09-08). 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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