States › New York › Suffolk County › ZIP 11978
ZIP code 11978, Suffolk County, New York
National Flood Insurance Program claims and payouts recorded for this ZIP code, with county context.
NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.
OpenFEMA lists 1,775 NFIP claims for ZIP 11978 (Suffolk County, New York), with $49M paid on 1,255 claims since 1978.
That is 5.2% of the 33,936 claims recorded across Suffolk County. The average paid claim in the ZIP is $39K, close to the county average of $41K and the New York average of $40K.
FEMA counts 181 repetitive-loss properties and 21 severe repetitive-loss properties in the ZIP (properties with two or more paid flood claims); their locations are not published.
At county level FEMA counts 26,160 residential flood policies in force, covering 5.4% of residential structures.
Compared with the county and state
| Measure | ZIP 11978 | Suffolk | New York | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claims since 1978 | 1,775 | 33,936 | 175,430 | 2,680,429 |
| Share of claims paid | 71% | 81% | 82% | 78% |
| Average paid claim | $39K | $41K | $40K | $43K |
| Share of county claims | 5.2% | 100% | — | — |
| Repetitive-loss properties | 181 | 3,461 | 19,079 | — |
Claims by year of loss
| Decade | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 48 | $121,035 |
| 1980s | 423 | $2,685,205 |
| 1990s | 618 | $19,194,221 |
| 2000s | 61 | $466,944 |
| 2010s | 550 | $23,170,443 |
| 2020s | 75 | $3,624,894 |
| Year of loss | Claims | Paid claims | Amount paid | Average paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2024 | 57 | 42 | $2,661,429 | $63,367 |
| 2023 | 9 | 7 | $954,611 | $136,373 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2021 | 4 | 2 | $8,854 | $4,427 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2018 | 10 | 4 | $50,661 | $12,665 |
| 2017 | 13 | 12 | $488,016 | $40,668 |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2013 | 4 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2012 | 433 | 346 | $21,144,055 | $61,110 |
| 2011 | 64 | 43 | $1,297,125 | $30,166 |
| 2010 | 24 | 14 | $190,585 | $13,613 |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | $8,146 | $8,146 |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2007 | 9 | 7 | $112,003 | $16,000 |
| 2006 | 3 | 3 | $29,290 | $9,763 |
| 2005 | 42 | 31 | $314,130 | $10,133 |
| 2004 | 2 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2003 | 1 | 1 | $3,374 | $3,374 |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2000 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 1999 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 1998 | 14 | 10 | $402,129 | $40,213 |
| 1997 | 29 | 22 | $234,127 | $10,642 |
| 1996 | 3 | 1 | $341 | $341 |
| 1995 | 3 | 1 | $153 | $153 |
| 1994 | 20 | 11 | $912,434 | $82,949 |
| 1993 | 196 | 159 | $6,079,043 | $38,233 |
| 1992 | 154 | 109 | $6,850,304 | $62,847 |
| 1991 | 186 | 143 | $4,664,590 | $32,620 |
| 1990 | 12 | 7 | $51,100 | $7,300 |
| 1989 | 12 | 6 | $35,244 | $5,874 |
| 1988 | 6 | 2 | $13,014 | $6,507 |
| 1987 | 50 | 28 | $647,214 | $23,115 |
| 1986 | 32 | 10 | $140,482 | $14,048 |
| 1985 | 112 | 58 | $374,165 | $6,451 |
| 1984 | 74 | 42 | $639,934 | $15,237 |
| 1983 | 43 | 30 | $462,561 | $15,419 |
| 1982 | 14 | 10 | $213,707 | $21,371 |
| 1981 | 14 | 6 | $28,951 | $4,825 |
| 1980 | 66 | 51 | $129,934 | $2,548 |
| 1979 | 14 | 11 | $12,511 | $1,137 |
| 1978 | 34 | 25 | $108,524 | $4,341 |
Claims are counted by year of loss as recorded in OpenFEMA's redacted NFIP claims file; amounts combine building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments. ZIP codes in the file are the policyholder's reported ZIP.
County context: Suffolk County
Suffolk County has 877 weather events in the NCEI record since 1950 (25 in the last 12 months), 36 federal disaster declarations, and an overall National Risk Index rating of "Relatively High". Flood-type events recorded in the county: 253; hurricane-strength tracks within 50 miles: 9.
Hail: 107 · Tornado: 32 · Flood: 253 · Wind: 410 · Winter: 3 — full county page.
Questions and answers
How many flood insurance claims have been filed in ZIP 11978?
1,775 claims since 1978 in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file, 1,255 of them with a payment.
How much has the NFIP paid out in ZIP 11978?
$49M across 1,255 paid claims (building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments combined), about $39K per paid claim.
Which year had the most flood claims in 11978?
2012, with 433 claims and $21M paid.
What county is ZIP 11978 in?
Most claims in this ZIP carry the county code for Suffolk County, New York; ZIP codes can cross county lines. The county page carries the storm record, declarations and risk index for the area.
Provenance
OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (as of 8 Sep 2026) and NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026), aggregated by ZIP code and year of loss on this site; no property-level record is shown. County storm figures from NOAA NCEI through 30 Jun 2026. Built 1 Oct 2026. See the guide to redacted NFIP claims and the methodology.