43 flood insurance claims·$523,388 paid·2 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 Jay 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 and river flooding from summer thunderstorms dominate the flood risk profile in Jay County, split evenly between nine flood events and nine flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events DB. Severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall and flash flooding from thunderstorms, occurred in July 2015 and July 2025, presenting significant hazards across the area.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones with varying impacts. Properties in Zone A experienced the highest frequency with 33 claims, averaging a payout of $12,929 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $6,109 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED logged 3 claims with a higher average payout of $52,537 and an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $21,989 and an average water depth of 17 inches.
Homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A due to the high volume of claims, as well as properties in unshaded and standard Zone X areas where individual events have produced significant average payouts and substantial average water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Jay County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
36 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 2011, with 16 claims and $225,596 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 Jay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| 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 |
| Snow | Dec 21, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Aug 26, 2003 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 4, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
18 since 1996: 9 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Jul 7, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2011 | $1.5M |
| Flood | May 14, 2011 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2009 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 26, 2025. Thunderstorms in the afternoon of July 26 produced isolated instances of wind damage, primarily in Jay County. The storm there exhibited supercell characteristics before dissipating.
Flood · Jun 26, 2015. An unseasonably strong area of low pressure moved through the Ohio Valley on June 26-27 which brought moderate to heavy rain to the area. Between 3 and 6 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period.
Flash Flood · Jul 13, 2015. A northward retreating outflow boundary from morning thunderstorms and eastward migration of upstream instability allowed for convection to fire later in the evening as the cap eroded and an upstream upper level trough approached the region. Storms initially produced isolated hail and wind damage, however heavy rainfall and flash flooding quickly became the primary threat.
Flood · Jul 13, 2015. A northward retreating outflow boundary from morning thunderstorms and eastward migration of upstream instability allowed for convection to fire later in the evening as the cap eroded and an upstream upper level trough approached the region. Storms initially produced isolated hail and wind damage, however heavy rainfall and flash flooding quickly became the primary threat.
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 Jay 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.