207 flood insurance claims·$8.6M 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 Harrison 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 from heavy rainfall events dominates Harrison County, accounting for 39 of the 65 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 26 general flood events. Recent history highlights this vulnerability, including a historically strong low pressure system that brought heavy rainfall and flash flooding on March 3rd, 2023. Additionally, a stationary front near the Ohio River caused more than 2.5 inches of rain to fall in 30 minutes over Corydon on August 13th, 2020, producing three to four feet of ponded water that damaged homes, businesses, and vehicles.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in high-risk Zone A bear the brunt of these impacts, accounting for 173 claims with an average payout of $51,257 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. By comparison, Zone X properties recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $24,546 and an average water depth of 12 inches, while minimal-risk Zone X unshaded areas recorded five claims averaging an 1-inch water depth and $8,357 payouts.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, as well as those in urban areas prone to overloaded storm sewers, where historical claims demonstrate the highest frequency and financial severity.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Harrison County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
178 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 10 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 49 claims and $808,718 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 Harrison County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 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, 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.
65 since 1996: 39 flash floods and 26 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2020 | $150,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 8, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Apr 27, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Dec 27, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2015 | $30,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 25, 2023. During the evening and nighttime hours March 24th into March 25th, a mid-level trough moving from the central Plains into the Mississippi Valley amplified and became negatively tilted as it moved into the lower Ohio Valley. Low-level reflection of mid-level amplification manifested as a 50 knot low-level jet helped higher moisture air surge northward into southern Indiana during the late evening hours on March 24t…
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 13, 2020. During the day, a front remained parked near the Ohio River. This helped to produce heavy rainfall in storms that were nearly stationary. One of the storms occurred over Corydon, IN, where more than 2.5 inches of rain fell in 30 minutes, quickly overflowing storm sewers. Ponded water three to four feet in depth damaged several homes, businesses, and vehicles.
Flash Flood · Sep 8, 2018. On September 8th, the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon was centered in southeast Missouri. Much of the moisture and energy from the system interacted with a stationary front running west to east through Kentucky. This produced efficient rainfall that caused flash flooding, and the environmental shear was strong enough to produce two tornadoes along the Ohio River in southern Indiana and north-central Kentucky.
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 Harrison 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.