11 flood insurance claims·$183,493 paid·4 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 Daviess 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.
Standard river flooding dominates the flood history of Daviess County, with 81 recorded flood events compared to 35 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Slow-moving cold fronts and heavy rainfall frequently trigger localized inundation, as seen on August 4, 2025, when thunderstorms produced rainfall estimates as high as 3 to 5 inches and flooded two major roads in the county. Another significant severe weather event occurred on April 29, 2025, when a second round of storms brought flash flooding to spots across central and southern Indiana.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims concentrated across different hazard zones with varying severity. Zone A properties account for 7 claims with an average payout of $30,040 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X properties recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 32 inches. An additional claim in an unknown zone recorded an average payout of $3,252 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these historical flood and water depth patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 12 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 2008, with 4 claims and $47,210 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes and 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.
24 NOAA storm reports from Daviess County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 8, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 12, 2008 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 30, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 1, 2005 |
| Snow | Dec 21, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
116 since 1996: 35 flash floods and 81 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 4, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 5, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jan 25, 2019 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2019 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2025. A couple rounds of scattered heavy rains from late on the 28th through the morning of the 29th brought 1 to 2 inches of rainfall, to several areas from Bloomington into parts of Brown County and Lawrence County. Soon after, more impressive rainfall rates occurred over the same areas from the 29th evening into very early on the 30th, where an additional 3 to 6 inches of rainfall fell on a few local areas.||Resulta…
Flash Flood · Apr 29, 2025. Two rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms impacted central Indiana with the first round predominately impacting the central portions of the state with a few reports of large hail and damaging winds. Multiple structures were impacted in Rush county where a swath of 75-80 mph winds moved through. A second round arrived during the early evening hours and mainly hit the southern portions of central Indiana with mar…
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2025. On July 17, 2025, a slow-moving cold front interacted with a humid and unstable airmass over central and southern Indiana. This synoptic setup led to isolated but potent thunderstorms that produced a primary hazard of flash flooding, rather than the damaging winds or tornadoes seen in previous events. The day's weather pattern was dominated by a stalled cold front, which served as a focal point for storm developme…
Flash Flood · Aug 4, 2025. During the late afternoon and early evening of the 4th, slow moving thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall and flooding to portions of west-central and southwest central Indiana. Flooding was most significant in southeastern Vigo County near Blackhawk where a video showed flash flooding of a field and nearby road. Later in the day, flash flooding also occurred in Daviess County and Lawrence County with two major…
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 Daviess 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.