233 flood insurance claims·$4.4M 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 Floyd 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 driven by heavy rainfall and summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Floyd County, Indiana, accounting for 35 of the past 30 years of recorded flood events compared to 15 general flood events. Recent severe weather includes a major heavy rain and flash flooding event on February 16, 2025, and a historically strong low pressure system that brought heavy rainfall and flash flooding on March 3, 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that high-risk Zone A properties have experienced the heaviest impact with 159 claims, an average payout of $30,233, and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Moderate-to-low risk zones also face measurable vulnerability; Zone X recorded 31 claims with an average payout of $12,444 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while shaded Zone X recorded 22 claims averaging $13,536 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Unshaded Zone X recorded 15 claims averaging $9,758 with an average water depth of 12 inches.
Homeowners in Zone A face the highest average claim severity and should pay the closest attention to flood risk, though property owners in all Zone X designations should also note that historical claims and standing water have occurred outside primary designated flood zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Floyd County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
196 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 6 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 37 claims and $741,200 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Floyd County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 4 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, 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 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 1, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
50 since 1996: 35 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 25, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Feb 23, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Mar 3, 2023. On March 3rd, 2023, a historically strong low pressure system moved across the lower Ohio Valley, bringing heavy rainfall, severe weather, and most notably, very strong gradient winds as it moved across the region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave upper-level trough located over the mid-Mississippi Valley became negatively tilted during the morning hours of March 3rd. A 120 knot 500 mb jet developed across centr…
Flash Flood · Aug 6, 2022. During the afternoon and evening hours of August 6th, showers and thunderstorms developed across southern Indiana in the presence of sufficient instability. Ample moisture was present across the region, with surface dewpoints in the low-to-mid 70s and precipitable water values approaching 2 inches. The scattered clusters of showers and thunderstorms which developed moved very slowly thanks to weak steering flow an…
Flood · Feb 28, 2021. A stalled frontal boundary brought several rounds of rainfall to southern Indiana from February 26 through February 28. As a result, a road had to be closed due to high water.
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 Floyd 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.