860 flood insurance claims·$17.3M paid·5 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Clark County, Indiana. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding dominates the flood character of Clark County, accounting for 75 events and 1 death compared to 22 general flood events and 1 death over the last 30 years. Recent regional weather patterns demonstrate this risk, including a major heavy rain and flash flooding event in February 2025 caused by deep upper-level troughing and Gulf moisture, as well as a multi-day storm system with stalled cold fronts and supercells in April 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties in Zone A have experienced the heaviest impacts, logging 602 claims with an average payout of $27,877 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Additional claims occurred across other zones, including 91 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED with an average payout of $18,510 and an average water depth of 4 inches, 53 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $18,261 and an average water depth of 22 inches, 34 claims in Zone X_SHADED with an average payout of $14,263 and an average water depth of 9 inches, and 80 claims in Zone UNKNOWN with an average payout of $1,644 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of insurance claims and financial losses in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
17% of Clark County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
727 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 9 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1997, with 213 claims and $4.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
32 NOAA storm reports from Clark County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Feb 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 12, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
97 since 1996: 75 flash floods and 22 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2025. On July 17th, a west to east oriented cold front dropped southeast from the Midwest and stalled along the Ohio River. Multiple waves of convection along the front continued moving west to east across southern Indiana before the front lifted back north on July 20th. Isolated flooding issues were observed in multiple counties.
Flash Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A major heavy rain and flash flooding event took place across southern Indiana and central Kentucky on February 15th and 16th, 2025. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the Gulf of America, with unseasonably high precipitable water fo…
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A major heavy rain and flash flooding event took place across southern Indiana and central Kentucky on February 15th and 16th, 2025. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the Gulf of America, with unseasonably high precipitable water fo…
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A major heavy rain and flash flooding event took place across southern Indiana and central Kentucky on February 15th and 16th, 2025. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the Gulf of America, with unseasonably high precipitable water fo…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Clark County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.