Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Western Connecticut Planning Region sits at the 98.1th national percentile, well above the national norm for flood hazard; split between inland river flooding (about 3.5 times a year) and coastal storm surge (about 6.2 times a year). County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Western Connecticut Planning Region
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Western Connecticut Planning Region's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 57.2% of them do — 3,692 active policies against 6,453 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 3.3% of all residential structures in Western Connecticut Planning Region carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Western Connecticut Planning Region against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Western Connecticut Planning Region ranks 67 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 112 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut covers 532.148 square miles and counts roughly 637,013 residents.
Your street may differ from Western Connecticut Planning Region's average
5,431 of Western Connecticut Planning Region's 167,194 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Western Connecticut Planning Region's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Western Connecticut Planning Region's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.