FEMA flood zones · Indiana

Pulaski County, Indiana Flood Zone Map

173 flood insurance claims·$2.3M paid·2 federal flood & hurricane disasters

3% of Pulaski County’s area is in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones.

Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.

Coastal high risk (V, VE)FloodwayHigh risk (A, AE)Moderate (X, 500-year)Minimal (X)Undetermined (D)

Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Pulaski 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.

Where the flood claims came from

Less than 1% of Pulaski County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.

131 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.

How deep the water got

outlet80″ door12″24″36″48″60″72″84″

In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 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.

Flood claims, year by year

The worst year was 2009, with 53 claims and $1.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding.

1981: 2 claims1982: 3 claims1985: 9 claims1990: 12 claims1993: 3 claims1996: 3 claims1998: 1 claims1999: 2 claims2005: 3 claims2007: 2 claims2008: 48 claims2009: 53 claims2011: 3 claims2013: 6 claims2014: 1 claims2015: 2 claims2018: 19 claims2026: 1 claims19801990200020102020

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.

In their words

1 NOAA storm reports from Pulaski County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →

Federal disasters

16 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.

DisasterBegan
Severe Winter StormJan 23, 2026
Severe Storms And FloodingFeb 14, 2018
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And FloodingMar 8, 2009
Severe Storms And FloodingJan 7, 2008
SnowFeb 12, 2007
Hurricane Katrina EvacuationAug 29, 2005
Severe Winter Storms And FloodingJan 1, 2005
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And FloodingJul 4, 2003

Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.

Recorded flood events

4 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 1 river or area floods.

EventDateDamage
FloodFeb 20, 2018$38,000
Flash FloodJun 1, 2013—
Flash FloodJul 6, 2003—
Flash FloodJul 5, 2003—

— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

From the storm reports

Flood · Feb 20, 2018. A slow release of a snow pack, containing one to over two inches of water, occurred in the days leading to the event which started the process of river rises in many areas. Low pressure tracked from northwest Iowa into northern Lower Michigan, which ushered in a rapid warmup and equally rapid release of any remaining water in the snow-pack. Several rounds of rain occurred between the 19th and 21st of February acro…

Flash Flood · Jun 1, 2013. Convection moved into the region during the evening hours of May 31st. Although this weakened, the remnants of it provided a west to east focus for continued development of showers and thunderstorms. Precipitable water values of around 2 inches were in place, with training of cells common into the overnight hours of June 1st. To further complicate matters, the comma head of a large bow echo propagated northeast ou…

National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

The zones you’ll see on the map

Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.

Cross-section of a river floodplainDiagram: a river valley. The floodway is the channel and the land beside it; the 1%-annual-chance flood surface (the base flood elevation) covers the valley floor as zone A or AE; a narrow band higher up is shaded X, the 0.2% floodplain; higher ground is X.0.2% CHANCE A YEAR (500-YEAR)BASE FLOOD ELEVATION · 1% A YEARXAEFloodwayAEX
  1. A / AE Inside the 1%-a-year floodplain: about a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. AE has a mapped base flood elevation; plain A does not.
  2. Floodway The channel and the land beside it that has to be kept clear enough to carry the flood. Building here is tightly limited.
  3. X shaded The 0.2% (500-year) floodplain, plus some levee-protected and very shallow flood areas.
  4. X Outside both lines. No federal requirement to insure, which is not the same as no risk.

Every flood zone code explained →

Flood insurance in Pulaski County

If a building in Pulaski 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.