45 flood insurance claims·$555,015 paid·4 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 Ballard County, Kentucky. 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.
River overflow and standard floods dominate the flood character of Ballard County, with 71 flood events compared to 33 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years, resulting in one flash flood death.
Recent impacts are illustrated by prolonged river flooding in February and March 2025 along the Green, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers caused by heavy mid-February rainfall. Additionally, a winter storm on January 5, 2025, brought a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain, while two waves of heavy rainfall on February 15, 2025, produced minor to moderate flooding along the Ohio River, with crests recorded at Paducah and other regional areas.
Properties near rivers and those situated in FEMA flood zones should pay the most attention to these risks. National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones, including Zone A with an average payout of $28,756 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, Zone X with an average payout of $17,087 and an average recorded water depth of 27 inches, Zone X_UNSHADED with an average payout of $6,103 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, and Zone UNKNOWN with an average payout of $3,157 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
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 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 1979, with 13 claims and $32,817 paid.
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.
48 NOAA storm reports from Ballard County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Landslides | Feb 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, And Mudslides | May 21, 2024 |
| Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 6, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
104 since 1996: 33 flash floods and 71 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jan 5, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 11, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Two waves of heavy rainfall (2-7) over the Ohio, Tennessee, and Green River Valleys on the 15th resulted in minor flooding along a large portion of the Ohio River, including the Evansville, Henderson, Golconda, Smithland, and Cairo areas. Minor and moderate flooding occurred around Owensboro, Paducah, and Olmsted. The river crested at moderate flood levels at Owensboro (44.1 feet), Paducah (43.2 feet), and Olmsted…
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. Significant flash flooding occurred over west Kentucky, as anomalously high amounts of low-level moisture streamed northward over a warm front that became stationary along the Tennessee border. Steady rains began just after 0000CST on the 15th and continued until around 0100CST on the 16th. The rain came in waves with the first one targeting Fulton, Murray, Fort Campbell, and Guthrie with 1-2��� in the pre-d…
Flood · Feb 15, 2025. Two waves of heavy rainfall (2-7) over the Ohio, Tennessee, and Green River Valleys on the 15th resulted in minor flooding along a large portion of the Ohio River, including the Evansville, Henderson, Golconda, Smithland, and Cairo areas. Minor and moderate flooding occurred around Owensboro, Paducah, and Olmsted. The river crested at moderate flood levels at Owensboro (44.1 feet), Paducah (43.2 feet), and Olmsted…
Flood · Jan 5, 2025. A winter storm, with locally major impacts, affected western Kentucky on the 5th with a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. A brief wintry mix that fell primarily as freezing rain quickly transitioned to plain rain later that morning and afternoon across much of the region. Peak accumulations ranged from a trace to a half inch of snow and sleet along with a glaze of ice. Further north along and north of Interst…
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 Ballard 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.