1 flood insurance claims·$42,215 paid·3 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 Sullivan 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.
Standard river floods and flash floods from heavy rainfall dominate the flood risk profile, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 92 flood events and 26 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Intense, slow-moving summer storms frequently trigger these conditions. For example, a stationary storm pattern on July 8, 2022, dropped rainfall rates as high as 6.19 inches in portions of Sullivan, Greene, and Vigo counties. Similarly, heavy rainfall from slow-moving thunderstorms caused flash flooding that closed US 41 for several hours on July 19, 2020.
Property owners located in designated high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas, specifically Zone A, should pay the closest attention to this risk. FEMA records show that Zone A claims in the county averaged a payout of $42,215 with an average recorded water depth of 56 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 56 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Sullivan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Mar 31, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 5, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 30, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 1, 2005 |
| Snow | Dec 21, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
118 since 1996: 26 flash floods and 92 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2023 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2022 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2020 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Oct 19, 2016 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 21, 2013 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Sep 7, 2012 | $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 · Jul 1, 2023. This episode is a continuation of the episode from June 30th with two rounds of storms. The first round occurred during the overnight hours of the 30th into the 1st with a few reports of damaging wind gusts. The most impressive area of wind damage was across Decatur county. Storms reinitiated across western Indiana during the evening hours of the 1st with flash flooding and additional wind damage.
Flash Flood · Jul 8, 2022. During the morning hours of July 8th, thunderstorms remained nearly stationary across portions of central Indiana with a period of extremely heavy rain across much of Greene county and portions of Sullivan and Vigo counties. A quasi-tropical pattern led to increased rainfall rates with reports as great as 6.19 at the Graysville 5 WNW COOP site.
Flash Flood · Jul 19, 2020. During the afternoon and evening hours, isolated to scattered thunderstorms moved through central Indiana causing widespread tree damage to portions of Carroll county. More isolated damage occurred across other portions of central Indiana. Storms remained nearly stationary in west central Indiana where over 4 inches of rain fell. Flash flooding occurred in Sullivan county which led to US 41 to remain closed for…
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 Sullivan 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.