Water Risk Profile — ZIP 15226

Local Climate & Risk Factors

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania faces water damage from its position in the Mid-Atlantic storm track: Hurricane Ida's 2021 remnants caused historic flooding in Philadelphia, Delaware County, and Montgomery County; the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers create Zone AE flood designations in communities throughout the state. Pennsylvania's row home construction (Philadelphia's 19th-century brick rowhouses) has aging plumbing and combined sewer connections that overflow during heavy rain. Pennsylvania Insurance Code requires claim acknowledgment within 10 days. Philadelphia's combined sewer system is one of the largest in the nation — sewer backup endorsements are essential in older neighborhoods.

Flood-prone areas: Millvale is one of Pittsburgh's most chronically flooded neighborhoods — Girty's Run flows through the center of town and has overtopped its banks dozens of times, most severely during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Ida in 2021, flooding homes on Grant Avenue and Butler Street with up to 6 feet of water and causing tens of millions in residential damage. South Side Flats sits in the Monongahela River's floodplain and experiences basement water intrusion and occasional first-floor flooding each spring when the river crests above 25 feet — dozens of residential properties on South 2nd and South 3rd Streets carry mandatory flood insurance requirements.