Hurricane Irene
NFIP flood claims
- Median paid claims of the storm run from $3,475 in Puerto Rico to $21,039 in Vermont.
- By paid claims (43,605), Hurricane Irene is the 6th highest of 42 named storms covered here, and the 12th lowest of 42 by median paid claim in 2024 dollars.
- New Jersey holds 36.1% of the storm’s paid claims and New York 28.2%; 12 states are listed.
- In 2024 dollars (CPI-U), its median paid claim, $18,040, is 28.7% below the middle value of the storm medians ($25,316).
Source: FEMA, OpenFEMA NfipClaims (v3, data as of 2026-09-09, retrieved 2026-10-12); CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items (CUUR0000SA0), annual average (BLS Public Data API v1, annual averages 2005-2025, retrieved 2026-10-12). Not an official federal report.
Landfall and storm report
The National Hurricane Center’s HURDAT2 best track of Hurricane Irene (AL092011, retrieved 2026-10-12) records 9 landfalls, 5 of them in or near a US county. The strongest of those came on 2011-08-27 at 12:00 UTC, as a category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 kt: HURDAT2 position 34.7N 76.6W, rounded to 0.1°; county containing or nearest it: Carteret County, NC.
| Date | Time (UTC) | Position | Strength | Wind (kt) | Pressure (mb) | County containing or nearest the position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-08-21 | 23:00 | 17.8N 64.6W | tropical storm | 60 | 993 | St. Croix Island, VI (1.3 km) |
| 2011-08-22 | 05:25 | 18.1N 65.8W | tropical storm | 60 | 990 | Humacao Municipio, PR |
| 2011-08-24 | 16:00 | 22.4N 74.0W | category 3 hurricane | 100 | 955 | no US county |
| 2011-08-25 | 00:00 | 23.5N 75.1W | category 2 hurricane | 95 | 952 | no US county |
| 2011-08-25 | 09:00 | 24.7N 76.2W | category 2 hurricane | 90 | 950 | no US county |
| 2011-08-25 | 18:00 | 26.5N 77.2W | category 2 hurricane | 90 | 950 | no US county |
| 2011-08-27 | 12:00 | 34.7N 76.6W | category 1 hurricane | 75 | 952 | Carteret County, NC (1.3 km) |
| 2011-08-28 | 09:35 | 39.4N 74.4W | tropical storm | 60 | 959 | Atlantic County, NJ |
| 2011-08-28 | 13:00 | 40.6N 74.0W | tropical storm | 55 | 965 | Kings County, NY |
National Hurricane Center report
From the NHC Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Irene (retrieved 2026-10-12):
“Irene hit Crooked, Acklins and Long Island in the Bahamas as a category 3 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) but gradually weakened after crossing the Bahamas.”
“It made landfall in North Carolina as a category 1 hurricane and caused widespread damage across a large portion of the eastern United States as it moved north-northeastward, bringing significant effects from the mid-Atlantic states through New England.”
NFIP paid building claims in Hurricane Irene
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: event: Hurricane Irene, year of loss 2011; 43,605 paid claims; median $12,936, half of them between $5,682 (Q1) and $30,969 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $18,040, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 43,605 |
Paid claims by state
| State | Paid claims | Median paid |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 15,740 | $16,977 |
| New York | 12,290 | $12,891 |
| North Carolina | 7,351 | $9,198 |
| Connecticut | 2,897 | $13,192 |
| Virginia | 2,248 | $8,784 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,159 | $10,537 |
| Vermont | 838 | $21,039 |
| Puerto Rico | 353 | $3,475 |
| Maryland | 205 | $5,356 |
| Massachusetts | 189 | $8,769 |
| Delaware | 145 | $7,944 |
| New Hampshire | 109 | $13,874 |
Counties with the most paid claims
The storm’s paid claims are spread over many counties: the first, Nassau County, NY, holds 11.9% of them, ahead of Bergen County, NJ and Dare County, NC.
| County | FIPS | Paid claims |
|---|---|---|
| Nassau County | 36059 | 5,188 |
| Bergen County | 34003 | 2,809 |
| Dare County | 37055 | 2,420 |
| Passaic County | 34031 | 2,256 |
| Morris County | 34027 | 2,072 |
| Suffolk County | 36103 | 1,730 |
| Union County | 34039 | 1,464 |
| Beaufort County | 37013 | 1,458 |
| New Haven County | 09009 | 1,397 |
| Monmouth County | 34025 | 1,334 |
Questions about Hurricane Irene flood claims
How many flood insurance claims were paid after Hurricane Irene?
43,605 NFIP building claims carrying FEMA’s Hurricane Irene event label were paid (event: Hurricane Irene, year of loss 2011), with a median of $12,936; half of them fall between $5,682 and $30,969. These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Which counties had the most Hurricane Irene flood claims?
Nassau County, NY (5,188), Bergen County, NJ (2,809) and Dare County, NC (2,420), across 12 states listed.
What is the median Hurricane Irene flood claim in 2024 dollars?
$18,040 once each claim is adjusted with the CPI-U, against $12,936 in nominal dollars: a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
Related tools
Paid claims of Hurricane Irene are not repair estimates: to estimate the cleanup of a flooded basement from published cost-guide rates, use the basement water damage repair cost calculator; for water removal and drying after any water loss, the water damage and mitigation calculator.
To set these figures against every State on one claims window, amounts paid, not repair cost: NFIP paid building claims by state.
Before using these figures
A storm total counts NFIP-insured buildings with a paid claim, not all the damage of the storm. Method and limits.
Source and notice
- Storm = floodEvent "Hurricane Irene" with yearOfLoss 2011; window of the extraction: yearOfLoss 2005-2025.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).