Flood Help Guide

Maryland flood insurance and flood history

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

25,376NFIP flood claims since 1978
$341.2 millionPaid on those claims
$25,118Average paid claimlast 10 years
1.7%Homes with NFIP flood insurance
5Flood disaster declarationssince 2000

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 25,376 flood insurance claims in Maryland since 1978. The NFIP paid $341.2 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 2003, with 6,581, mostly from Hurricane Isabel.

In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 2,720 claims, and the average paid claim was $25,118.

30% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).

About 1.7% of homes in Maryland had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (33,232 of 1,925,531 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 74% (16,675 of 22,558).

Since 2000, FEMA has made 5 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of Maryland. The most recent was DR-4376-MD (Severe Storm and Flooding), declared July 2, 2018.

Flood insurance claims in Maryland by year

NFIP flood claims per year in Maryland, 1978 to 202602.5k5k7.5k10k1978: 436 claims, $456,478 paid1979: 1,718 claims, $8.6 million paid1980: 426 claims, $131,996 paid19801981: 668 claims, $390,487 paid1982: 709 claims, $45,856 paid1983: 1,005 claims, $167,517 paid1984: 985 claims, $2.9 million paid1985: 1,355 claims, $5.5 million paid1986: 144 claims, $52,667 paid1987: 52 claims, $57,080 paid1988: 30 claims, $119,748 paid1989: 152 claims, $1.5 million paid1990: 24 claims, $20,488 paid19901991: 72 claims, $323,708 paid1992: 458 claims, $4.6 million paid1993: 115 claims, $382,099 paid1994: 85 claims, $738,475 paid1995: 44 claims, $478,891 paid1996: 1,368 claims, $12.0 million paid1997: 31 claims, $28,845 paid1998: 581 claims, $2.6 million paid1999: 472 claims, $4.6 million paid2000: 60 claims, $212,435 paid20002001: 36 claims, $155,471 paid2002: 32 claims, $191,698 paid2003: 6,581 claims, $175.4 million paid2004: 237 claims, $5.4 million paid2005: 86 claims, $293,394 paid2006: 483 claims, $7.6 million paid2007: 28 claims, $37,444 paid2008: 188 claims, $1.8 million paid2009: 180 claims, $860,023 paid2010: 280 claims, $1.8 million paid20102011: 793 claims, $10.3 million paid2012: 1,736 claims, $22.9 million paid2013: 139 claims, $768,724 paid2014: 450 claims, $7.9 million paid2015: 141 claims, $571,902 paid2016: 276 claims, $11.3 million paid2017: 110 claims, $722,572 paid2018: 606 claims, $13.2 million paid2019: 196 claims, $2.4 million paid2020: 401 claims, $4.7 million paid20202021: 587 claims, $12.5 million paid2022: 128 claims, $1.2 million paid2023: 114 claims, $2.0 million paid2024: 414 claims, $8.3 million paid2025: 135 claims, $3.0 million paid2026: 29 claims, $56,790 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
202629$56,790
2025135$3.0 million
2024414$8.3 million
2023114$2.0 million
2022128$1.2 million
2021587$12.5 million
2020401$4.7 million
2019196$2.4 million
2018606$13.2 million
2017110$722,572
2016276$11.3 million
2015141$571,902
2014450$7.9 million
2013139$768,724
20121,736$22.9 million
2011793$10.3 million
2010280$1.8 million
2009180$860,023
2008188$1.8 million
200728$37,444
2006483$7.6 million
200586$293,394
2004237$5.4 million
20036,581$175.4 million
200232$191,698
200136$155,471
200060$212,435
1999472$4.6 million
1998581$2.6 million
199731$28,845
19961,368$12.0 million
199544$478,891
199485$738,475
1993115$382,099
1992458$4.6 million
199172$323,708
199024$20,488
1989152$1.5 million
198830$119,748
198752$57,080
1986144$52,667
19851,355$5.5 million
1984985$2.9 million
19831,005$167,517
1982709$45,856
1981668$390,487
1980426$131,996
19791,718$8.6 million
1978436$456,478

Biggest flood events by NFIP payments

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

EventYearClaimsPaid
Hurricane Isabel20036,271$173.7 million
Hurricane Sandy20121,616$21.3 million
Hurricane Fran1996741$5.8 million
Mid-spring storms2014199$5.6 million
Flooding1996382$4.8 million
Hurricane Irene2011314$3.2 million
Hurricane Gloria1985517$2.9 million
Hurricane Floyd1999369$2.5 million
Hurricane Ida202165$2.3 million
Flooding1998399$2.1 million

Flood history by county

Every Maryland 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
Baltimore County3,366$70.3 million1.2%2
Anne Arundel County2,825$53.1 million2.5%1
Worcester County2,519$19.5 million23.9%0
Somerset County1,260$15.1 million15.9%0
Prince George's County1,158$7.9 million0.9%1
Dorchester County1,142$21.7 million8.9%1
Queen Anne's County1,073$15.4 million7.9%0
Baltimore city1,065$26.7 million0.3%0
Montgomery County776$4.8 million0.8%1
Cecil County703$14.3 million1.4%1
Talbot County677$14.2 million9.7%0
St. Mary's County613$11.2 million2.4%0
Calvert County559$9.6 million2.0%0
Howard County422$15.8 million0.8%3
Allegany County377$5.4 million0.5%0
Washington County370$3.9 million0.5%1
Charles County361$6.5 million0.9%1
Harford County353$4.0 million0.6%1
Kent County341$8.9 million4.5%0
Frederick County271$2.1 million0.6%1
Wicomico County244$6.0 million1.3%0
Carroll County138$1.2 million0.3%0
Garrett County110$1.1 million0.4%0
Caroline County77$1.4 million1.1%1

Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in Maryland

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-4376-MD Jul 2, 2018 Severe Storm and Flooding No
DR-4374-MD Jun 25, 2018 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-4279-MD Sep 16, 2016 Severe Storm and Flooding No
DR-4038-MD Oct 5, 2011 Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee No
DR-1652-MD Jul 2, 2006 Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes 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.