58 flood insurance claims·$2.7M 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 Washington 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 from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Washington County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 35 flash flood events and 28 general flood events, resulting in one death. Recent activity includes heavy showers and thunderstorms on June 6, 2025, driven by a quasi-stationary front and moisture convergence along the northern edge of a low-pressure system associated with a convective complex moving across central Kentucky.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones. Properties in Zone A experienced the highest impact, with 34 claims averaging a payout of $72,095 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Additionally, 18 claims were filed in Zone UNKNOWN with an average payout of $19,308 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, while 6 claims
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Washington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
34 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 6 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 13 claims and $264,626 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes and Severe Storms 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Washington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Feb 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 12, 2008 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 30, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 35 flash floods and 28 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Feb 25, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2025. On July 17th, a west to east oriented cold front dropped southeast from the Midwest and stalled along the Ohio River. Multiple waves of convection along the front continued moving west to east across southern Indiana before the front lifted back north on July 20th. Isolated flooding issues were observed in multiple counties.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A major heavy rain and flash flooding event took place across southern Indiana and central Kentucky on February 15th and 16th, 2025. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the Gulf of America, with unseasonably high precipitable water fo…
Flash Flood · Jun 6, 2025. An area of showers and thunderstorms moved across the lower Ohio Valley during the afternoon and evening hours on June 6th, 2025. A quasi-stationary front was draped across the region, with precipitable water values around 2 inches along and south of the boundary. As a larger convective complex moved across central Kentucky, a mesoscale convective vortex and an associated area of low pressure developed. On the nor…
Flash Flood · Jun 4, 2020. Isolated thunderstorms developed along outflow intersecting boundaries in an area otherwise dominated by upper level high pressure. The slow movement of one storm produced isolated very heavy rain that briefly closed a highway due to overflowing water, and trees were downed by the outflow from another.
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 Washington 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.