67 flood insurance claims·$411,142 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 Vermillion 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 riverine floods dominate the historical record in Vermillion County, accounting for 105 out of 126 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 21 flash flood events.
Severe weather and heavy rainfall drive these occurrences, as demonstrated by storms on July 5, 2018, when heavy rainfall caused flooding along Interstate 74, and earlier events from June 7 to 8, 2015, when 2 to nearly 6 inches of rain triggered flooding across Vermillion, Warren, and Fountain counties.
Property owners in FEMA-designated Zone A face the highest frequency of risk, recording 43 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average water depth of 18 inches and an average payout of $7,710. Additionally, properties with unknown flood zones have accounted for 21 claims averaging 6 inches of recorded water depth, while Zone X properties, though recording only 3 claims, experienced severe inundation averaging 69 inches of recorded water depth and an average payout of $27,878. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, unmapped or unknown zones, and Zone X locations susceptible to deep inundation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Vermillion County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
43 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 17 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 2008, with 21 claims and $243,393 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Vermillion County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1979, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And | Apr 19, 2011 |
| 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 | Jul 3, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
126 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 105 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2020 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jul 5, 2018 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 8, 2015 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2014 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2009 | — |
| Flood | Jun 19, 2009 | $750 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 4, 2020. During the evening hours of June 3rd a series of thunderstorms brought pockets of severe weather to portions of central Indiana. A few thunderstorms became severe north of the Indianapolis metro which led to thunderstorm wind damage. A microburst from another thunderstorm caused fairly significant damage in Rush County near the county seat of Rushville. Thunderstorms continued into the night with flash flooding…
Flood · Feb 22, 2018. Unseasonably high amounts of moisture flowed into central Indiana from the southwest and south during the latter part of February. At times during the period of February 19th to the 24th, the precipitable water values (a measure of moisture in the atmosphere) reached record levels for February.||Heavy rainfall fell early in the week (February 19/20) across northern sections of central Indiana. The second round of…
Flood · Jul 5, 2018. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed along the Illinois-Indiana border near and in Vermillion County during the early afternoon of July the 5th. Heavy rainfall from these storms caused some flooding along Interstate 74.
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2015. A northeast to southwest oriented line of thunderstorms moved east-southeast from west-central Indiana into central Indiana during the morning hours of June 25th. These storms produced a singular wind damage and small hail report. North of these thunderstorms was a large shield of rain caused some flash flooding across northern portions of central Indiana.
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 Vermillion 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.