Flood Help Guide

Connecticut flood insurance and flood history

From FEMA's flood insurance and disaster data · Updated 2026-10-08

29,492NFIP flood claims since 1978
$554.7 millionPaid on those claims
$34,684Average paid claimlast 10 years
2.1%Homes with NFIP flood insurance
7Flood disaster declarationssince 2000

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 29,492 flood insurance claims in Connecticut since 1978. The NFIP paid $554.7 million on them (building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments, in the dollars of the year paid).

The year with the most claims was 2012, with 6,310, mostly from Hurricane Sandy.

In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 2,060 claims, and the average paid claim was $34,684.

23% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).

About 2.1% of homes in Connecticut had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (21,002 of 997,618 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 51% (15,938 of 31,281).

Since 2000, FEMA has made 7 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of Connecticut. The most recent was DR-4820-CT (Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides), declared September 20, 2024.

Flood insurance claims in Connecticut by year

NFIP flood claims per year in Connecticut, 1978 to 202602.5k5k7.5k10k1978: 776 claims, $1.5 million paid1979: 1,017 claims, $3.1 million paid1980: 1,288 claims, $4.3 million paid19801981: 42 claims, $39,408 paid1982: 1,875 claims, $11.5 million paid1983: 404 claims, $1.2 million paid1984: 784 claims, $4.6 million paid1985: 894 claims, $4.8 million paid1986: 47 claims, $116,268 paid1987: 204 claims, $851,748 paid1988: 54 claims, $91,173 paid1989: 252 claims, $987,361 paid1990: 63 claims, $157,720 paid19901991: 448 claims, $1.9 million paid1992: 2,772 claims, $42.9 million paid1993: 77 claims, $487,603 paid1994: 135 claims, $909,034 paid1995: 144 claims, $885,867 paid1996: 1,060 claims, $8.1 million paid1997: 35 claims, $70,942 paid1998: 106 claims, $478,035 paid1999: 267 claims, $4.1 million paid2000: 186 claims, $2.0 million paid20002001: 129 claims, $1.5 million paid2002: 43 claims, $210,462 paid2003: 90 claims, $350,057 paid2004: 112 claims, $352,688 paid2005: 602 claims, $6.9 million paid2006: 367 claims, $4.2 million paid2007: 1,308 claims, $20.0 million paid2008: 148 claims, $999,195 paid2009: 88 claims, $778,847 paid2010: 938 claims, $8.8 million paid20102011: 4,176 claims, $98.3 million paid2012: 6,310 claims, $263.9 million paid2013: 69 claims, $410,733 paid2014: 75 claims, $409,228 paid2015: 22 claims, $65,652 paid2016: 25 claims, $42,775 paid2017: 51 claims, $327,685 paid2018: 425 claims, $10.0 million paid2019: 60 claims, $522,584 paid2020: 37 claims, $268,956 paid20202021: 963 claims, $28.9 million paid2022: 67 claims, $1.0 million paid2023: 129 claims, $2.5 million paid2024: 244 claims, $8.2 million paid2025: 11 claims, $106,834 paid2026: 73 claims, $357,497 paid
NFIP claims per year by year of loss. Hover or tap a bar for the count and amount paid. 2026 is partial.
Show as a table
YearClaimsPaid
202673$357,497
202511$106,834
2024244$8.2 million
2023129$2.5 million
202267$1.0 million
2021963$28.9 million
202037$268,956
201960$522,584
2018425$10.0 million
201751$327,685
201625$42,775
201522$65,652
201475$409,228
201369$410,733
20126,310$263.9 million
20114,176$98.3 million
2010938$8.8 million
200988$778,847
2008148$999,195
20071,308$20.0 million
2006367$4.2 million
2005602$6.9 million
2004112$352,688
200390$350,057
200243$210,462
2001129$1.5 million
2000186$2.0 million
1999267$4.1 million
1998106$478,035
199735$70,942
19961,060$8.1 million
1995144$885,867
1994135$909,034
199377$487,603
19922,772$42.9 million
1991448$1.9 million
199063$157,720
1989252$987,361
198854$91,173
1987204$851,748
198647$116,268
1985894$4.8 million
1984784$4.6 million
1983404$1.2 million
19821,875$11.5 million
198142$39,408
19801,288$4.3 million
19791,017$3.1 million
1978776$1.5 million

Biggest flood events by NFIP payments

The flood events FEMA's claims data names most often for Connecticut, ranked by what the NFIP paid. FEMA names events in its claims records; claims without an event name aren't included here.

EventYearClaimsPaid
Hurricane Sandy20126,199$262.9 million
Hurricane Irene20113,508$89.9 million
December Storm - Nor'easter19922,426$39.2 million
Hurricane Ida2021707$25.2 million
Not a named storm19821,714$11.0 million
March 2010 Nor'easter2010865$8.5 million
Hurricane Gloria1985827$4.6 million
Hurricane Floyd1999183$3.8 million
Flooding1984358$3.5 million
Flooding1992275$3.4 million

Flood history by county

Every Connecticut county in FEMA's data, sorted by number of NFIP claims since 1978. "Insured" is the share of homes with an NFIP policy.

CountyClaimsPaidInsuredFlood declarations
Fairfield County12,667$283.7 millionn/a4
New Haven County9,609$173.0 millionn/a4
Middlesex County2,242$38.3 millionn/a3
New London County2,155$31.2 millionn/a5
Hartford County1,922$15.2 millionn/a2
Litchfield County479$7.1 millionn/a4
Tolland County167$1.8 millionn/a1
Windham County74$1.8 millionn/a3
Capitol Planning Region0$00.5%0
Greater Bridgeport Planning Region0$04.9%0
Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region0$04.1%0
Naugatuck Valley Planning Region0$00.5%0
Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region0$00.2%0
Northwest Hills Planning Region0$00.7%0
South Central Connecticut Planning Region0$03.2%0
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region0$02.6%0
Western Connecticut Planning Region0$03.2%0

Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in Connecticut

Declarations since 2000 that FEMA lists as involving flooding. "Help for individuals" means FEMA's Individual Assistance was approved for at least part of the area.

DeclarationDeclaredEventHelp for individuals
DR-4820-CT Sep 20, 2024 Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides Yes
EM-3612-CT Aug 21, 2024 Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides No
EM-3604-CT Jan 13, 2024 Severe Storms, Flooding, and A Potential Dam Breach No
DR-4410-CT Dec 5, 2018 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1904-CT Apr 23, 2010 Severe Storms and Flooding Yes
DR-1700-CT May 11, 2007 Severe Storms and Flooding Yes
DR-1619-CT Dec 16, 2005 Severe Storms and Flooding No

What to do with this

A county's history doesn't tell you your own building's risk. To see your property's flood zone, use FEMA's flood map lookup. To weigh coverage, start with do I need flood insurance? and what flood insurance costs.

Where these numbers come from

All figures on this page are calculated from FEMA's public OpenFEMA datasets:

FEMA's redacted claims data doesn't identify properties, and FEMA notes that some records lack a county or flood zone. See how we use the data.