77 flood insurance claims·$695,619 paid·1 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 Hendricks 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.
Flooding in Hendricks County is characterized by a nearly even mix of standard floods and flash floods, with 27 flood events and 25 flash flood events—including 1 death—recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events DB. Recent events illustrate this risk: on August 25, 2021, stationary storms produced pockets of 2 to 3 inches of rain and flooding, while a multi-day rain event bringing 2 to 4.5 inches on top of previous rainfall caused widespread flash flooding and major river stages on April 5, 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, indicating that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A recorded 47 claims with an average payout of $12,809 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $21,666 and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 12 claims with an average payout of $13,255 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within both Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A and moderate-to-low risk zones like Zone X, where recorded water depths and payouts demonstrate that significant flooding can still occur outside traditional floodplains.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
20% of Hendricks County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
59 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 8 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 2003, with 20 claims and $95,547 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
16 NOAA storm reports from Hendricks County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1996, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 5, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 30, 2008 |
| Snow | Feb 12, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 1, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 25, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Aug 26, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
52 since 1996: 25 flash floods and 27 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 25, 2021 | $250,000 |
| Flood | May 30, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2019 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2018 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 23, 2017 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2017 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2016 | $500 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. The final round of rain in a stretch of 4 days brought rain amounts of 2-4.5 inches of rain to central Indiana in addition to the 3-5 inches that had fallen. This led to additional widespread flash flooding and exacerbated ongoing creek and river flooding to a point that many main stem rivers ended up reaching major flood stage.
Flash Flood · Aug 25, 2021. An outflow boundary from overnight storms initiated a round of strong to severe thunderstorms north of Indianapolis before spreading through much of central and south central Indiana. Radar showed numerous weak microburst/downbursts at times through the late morning and early afternoon with minor tree damage noted in Hendricks and Marion county. Across that same area and also across southern Putnam and northeaste…
Flood · May 30, 2019. A west to east line of showers and thunderstorms developed and pushed across central Indiana during the evening hours of May the 30th. Large hail, a lightning strike causing damage, and flooding was observed.
Flood · Jun 15, 2019. A warm front brought severe storms, tornadoes, and heavy rain on June 15th. A significant tornado outbreak that was the largest since November 17, 2013 occurred during the evening of Saturday, June 15th. Seven tornadoes occurred in central Indiana with 3 additional tornadoes across portions of eastern Indiana.||This is what the environment showed. A weak shortwave trough was moving through central Indiana during t…
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 Hendricks 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.