40 flood insurance claims·$497,768 paid·3 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 Fayette 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.
Fayette County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by regular river flooding and flash flooding driven by seasonal storms. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 42 flood events and 25 flash flood events. Recent activity includes heavy rainfall from localized storms in April 2025 and an advancing low-pressure system in March 2023 that produced scattered thunderstorms and flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that historical claims are concentrated in high-risk areas, with Zone A accounting for 33 claims averaging $22,304 with an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X properties recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $7,337 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $35 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Fayette County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
33 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 3 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 2026, with 24 claims and $365,991 paid.
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.
2 NOAA storm reports from Fayette County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 12, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 1, 2005 |
| Snow | Dec 21, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Sep 20, 2002 |
| Winter Storm 12/23/98 | Jan 1, 1999 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 11, 1998 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
67 since 1996: 25 flash floods and 42 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $3,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 7, 2022 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 12, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 5, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms produced locally heavy rainfall late in the evening and into the overnight hours.
Flood · Jul 1, 2025. A low pressure system moving toward New England trailed a cold front through the Great Lakes region and into the Ohio Valley. Showers and storms formed out ahead of this frontal boundary. Some storms produced heavy rainfall and localized flooding.
Flood · Mar 3, 2023. Showers and scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours ahead of a strong low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley.
Flash Flood · May 14, 2022. Scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening in a warm and humid airmass that was in place across the Ohio Valley.
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 Fayette 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.