237 flood insurance claims·$4.3M paid·1 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 White 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 historical flood profile of White County, Indiana, accounting for 19 out of 23 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 4 general flood events.
Severe weather patterns drive these occurrences, as seen in June 2013 when training storms produced high precipitable water values and localized flash flooding, and in June 2015 when slow-moving thunderstorms caused additional flooding. Winter and spring events also occur, such as a February 2018 flood driven by a rapid snowpack melt combined with record-high February precipitable water levels and several rounds of rain.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in high-risk Zone A have filed 165 claims with an average water depth of 11 inches and an average payout of $22,627. Additionally, properties in Zone X have experienced 30 claims with an average water depth of 8 inches and an average payout of $29,693, while Zone X-unshaded properties recorded 15 claims averaging 2 inches of water depth and $16,342 in payouts. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, as well as those in Zone X where significant flood claims and water depths have also been recorded.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of White County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
180 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 9 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 52 claims and $1.7M paid, the year of 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from White County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Indiana flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 1 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 Storms And Flooding | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 5, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 8, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 7, 2008 |
| Snow | Feb 12, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
23 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 20, 2018 | $230,000 |
| Flood | Jun 12, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2010 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 11, 2009 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2008 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 8, 2008 | $2.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flood · Jun 12, 2015. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a low pressure center which moved through the area. With moderate instability and shear, numerous severe storms developed with several reports of damaging winds. In addition, storm motion nearly parallel to the frontal boundary caused training storms and localized flooding in a few locations.
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…
Flash Flood · Jul 2, 2011. Two lifting mechanisms, a cold front and a lake breeze, interacted with an extremely unstable, but poorly sheared environment, to allow for thunderstorm development. Initially discrete cells posed a hail threat, but eventually congealed into several bowing segments.
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 White 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.