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Lawrence County, PA flood insurance claims history

207 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Lawrence County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $2.0M on them. The worst year was 2004 with 52 claims. Lawrence County ranks #54 of 67 in Pennsylvania by claim count.

At a glance

  • 26% 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 7 of the last 10 years.
  • More flood claims than 20% of the 67 Pennsylvania counties with any claims on file — and more than 1 of its 3 neighbors.
  • ZIP 16101 has the most claims in the county (52, 25%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
207
1978–2024
Total paid
$2.0M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
82%
169 received a payment
Average payout
$12K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
25
claims 2015 – 2024
Most recent loss
2024-04-13
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: 52 claims in 2004

Claims by year of loss, 1978–2024. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Lawrence County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Flooding (FEMA general label)13$99K$8K1996
Tropical Storm Ivan9$167K$19K2004
Flooding (FEMA general label)3$2K$6031985
Tropical Storm Bill3$11K$4K2015
Tropical Storm Lee1$65K$65K2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)1$5K$5K1986

14% of claims here fall under these 6 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

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

Lawrence 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: 146 (71%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 50 (24%)Zone not recorded: 11 (5%)

The most common zone on Lawrence County claims is Zone A — 82 of 196 claims with a zone on file (42%). 74% 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 required8242%$1.0M$13K
Zone AE · high risk, insurance required3417%$275K$8K
Zone A1–A30 · high risk, insurance required3015%$184K$6K
Zone X · moderate / low risk2312%$269K$12K
Zone C · moderate / low risk2111%$167K$8K
Zone B · moderate / low risk63%$8K$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. 11 Lawrence 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
Stream, river or lake overflow11254%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt6330%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)189%
Other causes126%
Closed basin lake10%
Not recorded10%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Lawrence County

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

1610152$254K25%232017
1611740$418K19%142023
1610537$331K18%132022
1605720$259K10%52024
1611611$208K5%62019
161029$26K4%52019
161579$132K4%32023
161419$74K4%72022
161238$106K4%62011
Not reported3$2K1%31986
161323$85K1%32011
161202$32K1%12004
152002$12K1%21994
160371$16K0%12010
161081$8K0%12011

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

When does Lawrence County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (51 claims, 25%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January2512%
February2613%
March84%
April105%
May136%
June2311%
July2914%
August63%
September5125%
October21%
November21%
December126%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20244$67K
20233$79K
20226$124K
20195$28K
20181$0
20173$23K
20153$11K
20141$6K
20139$71K
20121$0
20119$106K
20103$41K
20094$19K
20082$13K
20071$4K
20063$121K
20053$8K
200452$856K
200315$83K
20001$2K
19991$15K
19981$531
19972$8K
199613$99K
199414$49K
19931$164
19922$7K
19911$0
199011$86K
19892$6K
19865$8K
19853$2K
19832$1K
19823$3K
19815$8K
19803$1K
19798$5K
19781$3K

Neighboring counties

Lawrence County borders 3 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Lawrence County (this page)207$2.0M26%
Butler County874$15.4M17%
Beaver County832$13.7M16%
Mercer County120$880K42%

All 67 Pennsylvania counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Lawrence County

Has Lawrence County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2024-04-13, and claims were filed in 7 of the last 10 years (25 claims from 2015 to 2024). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-08, so the newest events may not appear yet.
What flood zone is Lawrence 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 196 Lawrence County claims with a zone on file, the most common was Zone A (42%), and 74% 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 26% of Lawrence 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 42073, 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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