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Northumberland County, PA flood insurance claims history

1,721 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Northumberland County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $24.2M on them. The worst year was 2011 with 418 claims. Northumberland County ranks #12 of 67 in Pennsylvania by claim count.

At a glance

  • 22% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 21% of all claims trace to a single event — Tropical Storm Lee (2011), which paid $9.2M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 5 of the last 10 years.
  • More flood claims than 83% of the 67 Pennsylvania counties with any claims on file — and more than 6 of its 9 neighbors.
  • ZIP 17847 has the most claims in the county (704, 41%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
1,721
1978–2021
Total paid
$24.2M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
86%
1,478 received a payment
Average payout
$16K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
23
claims 2012 – 2021
Most recent loss
2021-09-23
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: 418 claims in 2011

Claims by year of loss, 1978–2021. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Northumberland County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Tropical Storm Lee364$9.2M$25K2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)349$4.4M$13K1996
Tropical Storm Ivan297$5.1M$17K2004
Flooding (FEMA general label)103$461K$4K1984
Flooding (FEMA general label)4$1K$3411986
Not a named storm4$2K$5501979
Hurricane Irene3$28K$9K2011
Hurricane Floyd2$2K$9191999
Torrential rain (FEMA general label)2$2K$1K2005
Flooding (FEMA general label)1$0$01987

66% 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.

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

Northumberland 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: 1,282 (74%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 355 (21%)Zone not recorded: 84 (5%)

The most common zone on Northumberland County claims is Zone A1–A30 — 693 of 1,637 claims with a zone on file (42%). 78% 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 required69342%$7.8M$11K
Zone AE · high risk, insurance required48830%$8.9M$18K
Zone B · moderate / low risk17211%$2.3M$13K
Zone X · moderate / low risk1338%$2.2M$17K
Zone A · high risk, insurance required1016%$1.6M$16K
Zone C · moderate / low risk503%$1.3M$25K

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. 84 Northumberland 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 snowmelt68640%
Stream, river or lake overflow67539%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)27916%
Other causes654%
Not recorded131%
Closed basin lake20%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Northumberland County

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

17847704$9.8M41%242018
17857255$4.6M15%162011
17801210$2.9M12%222018
1787298$714K6%142020
1777781$578K5%142021
1783075$1.2M4%102011
1782469$2.0M4%52018
1785155$730K3%142015
1786630$189K2%72018
1782127$327K2%92018
Not reported20$76K1%51984
1786019$511K1%72018
1785017$101K1%72011
1786812$116K1%52011
170178$64K0%52011
178238$89K0%52018
177304$3K0%21996
178814$14K0%22011
177724$6K0%32011
178324$38K0%42011
178343$4110%32011
178643$49K0%32005
173602$5260%21979
178252$8K0%21984
179412$26K0%22018
160611$10K0%12004
177491$44K0%12004
178441$24K0%11996
178281$2K0%11996
166791$6K0%11996

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

When does Northumberland County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (704 claims, 41%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January39123%
February1569%
March1529%
April1066%
May181%
June1137%
July332%
August121%
September70441%
October50%
November00%
December312%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20211$12K
20201$13K
201817$221K
20151$0
20123$5K
2011418$9.6M
201017$283K
20085$495K
20072$27K
2006103$1.9M
200529$164K
2004298$5.1M
20033$4K
20011$5K
199930$151K
19985$0
19971$0
1996359$4.6M
19951$0
199416$296K
199350$216K
19922$8K
19912$0
19905$50K
19891$0
19881$4K
19871$0
198611$3K
1984115$470K
198324$28K
198211$19K
198124$44K
19802$0
1979129$498K
197832$19K

Neighboring counties

Northumberland County borders 9 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Northumberland County (this page)1,721$24.2M22%
Dauphin County5,248$86.1M21%
Lycoming County3,878$58.3M13%
Columbia County2,200$63.2M27%
Schuylkill County1,041$26.3M16%
Union County927$11.8M11%
Snyder County904$12.4M13%
Perry County749$7.4M25%
Juniata County178$1.1M26%
Montour County154$3.2M43%

All 67 Pennsylvania counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Northumberland County

Has Northumberland County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2021-09-23, and claims were filed in 5 of the last 10 years (23 claims from 2012 to 2021). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-08, so the newest events may not appear yet.
What flood zone is Northumberland 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 1,637 Northumberland County claims with a zone on file, the most common was Zone A1–A30 (42%), and 78% 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 22% of Northumberland 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 42097, 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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