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Cumberland County, PA flood insurance claims history

1,600 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Cumberland County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $16.9M on them. The worst year was 2011 with 274 claims. Cumberland County ranks #15 of 67 in Pennsylvania by claim count.

At a glance

  • 36% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 13% of all claims trace to a single event — Tropical Storm Ivan (2004), which paid $3.9M here.
  • 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 79% of the 67 Pennsylvania counties with any claims on file — and more than 3 of its 5 neighbors.
  • ZIP 17070 has the most claims in the county (298, 19%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
1,600
1978–2026
Total paid
$16.9M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
75%
1,203 received a payment
Average payout
$14K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
41
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-07-05
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: 274 claims in 2011

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 Cumberland County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Flooding (FEMA general label)215$3.7M$17K1996
Flooding (FEMA general label)209$586K$3K1984
Tropical Storm Ivan201$3.9M$20K2004
Tropical Storm Lee157$4.7M$30K2011
Not a named storm112$308K$3K1979
Flooding (FEMA general label)20$11K$5741987
Hurricane Irene6$23K$4K2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)6$13K$2K1986
Hurricane Floyd3$10K$3K1999
Hurricane Ida2$18K$9K2021
Tropical Storm Bill2$29K$15K2015
Hurricane Debby2$202K$101K2024

58% 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 Cumberland County: which ones the claims came from

Cumberland 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: 933 (58%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 527 (33%)Zone not recorded: 140 (9%)

The most common zone on Cumberland County claims is Zone A1–A30 — 507 of 1,467 claims with a zone on file (35%). 64% 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 A1–A30 · high risk, insurance required50735%$6.0M$12K
Zone AE · high risk, insurance required33623%$6.5M$19K
Zone C · moderate / low risk20714%$1.0M$5K
Zone X · moderate / low risk17812%$1.4M$8K
Zone B · moderate / low risk14210%$914K$6K
Zone A · high risk, insurance required906%$658K$7K
Zone D · not studied70%$10K$1K

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. 133 Cumberland 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 snowmelt63840%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)46529%
Stream, river or lake overflow40425%
Other causes825%
Not recorded60%
Alluvial fan overflow30%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Cumberland County

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

17070298$4.6M19%192014
17055257$1.5M16%262024
17011255$3.5M16%272026
17050188$636K12%292024
17043155$2.8M10%182013
17025121$1.5M8%182024
1701384$371K5%232025
1705348$554K3%132011
1701548$522K3%142020
1706543$204K3%122024
1700741$365K3%132024
1725727$182K2%102025
172419$83K1%72018
173247$54K0%32011
172664$21K0%42014
Not reported4$12K0%21984
161562$39K0%22004
170272$6K0%22011
170932$9K0%21996
170001$21K0%11996
174021$00%11998
170191$9K0%11984
170011$7K0%11984
172401$19K0%12004

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

When does Cumberland County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (451 claims, 28%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January36023%
February30219%
March1278%
April1499%
May201%
June674%
July523%
August201%
September45128%
October161%
November60%
December302%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20261$0
20254$47K
20249$235K
20213$22K
20204$70K
20191$3K
201817$158K
20172$0
20161$0
20156$49K
20146$92K
201311$150K
20124$20K
2011274$6.0M
20104$29K
200915$146K
20083$8K
20077$46K
200626$354K
20057$12K
2004208$4.0M
200316$35K
20012$10K
20005$6K
19998$16K
199829$41K
19971$0
1996263$4.0M
19956$5K
199424$40K
199348$96K
19901$0
19894$3K
19881$0
198722$11K
198610$13K
19854$13K
1984234$620K
198336$62K
198225$55K
19819$7K
19804$309
1979207$406K
197828$68K

Neighboring counties

Cumberland County borders 5 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Cumberland County (this page)1,600$16.9M36%
Dauphin County5,248$86.1M21%
York County1,753$20.7M38%
Perry County749$7.4M25%
Adams County400$6.7M28%
Franklin County188$1.1M39%

All 67 Pennsylvania counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Cumberland County

Has Cumberland County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-07-05, and claims were filed in 8 of the last 10 years (41 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 Cumberland 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 1,467 Cumberland County claims with a zone on file, the most common was Zone A1–A30 (35%), and 64% 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 36% of Cumberland 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.

Look up another place

About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 42041, 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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