462 flood insurance claims·$7.0M paid·6 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 Boyd 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.
Over the last 30 years, Boyd County has experienced a mix of 56 flood events resulting in one death, alongside 46 flash flood events recorded in the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent flood events include heavy rainfall from low-pressure systems and warm fronts causing impassable roadways, such as the events recorded in January and February 2025, which also featured a swath of two to four inches of rain across the region on February 6, 2025.
Federal insurance data shows historical flood claims across multiple zones, indicating risk extends beyond high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 225 claims with an average payout of $24,007 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Zone X accounts for 93 claims with an average payout of $12,111 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Within the sub-categories, Zone X_UNSHADED has 68 claims averaging an $8,452 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches, while Zone X_SHADED has 45 claims averaging a $15,740 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Properties categorized as Zone UNKNOWN recorded 31 claims with an average payout of $7,858 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A, as well as properties located in Zone X designations, should pay the most attention to flood risk given the documented claim history and average water depths in these areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
33% of Boyd County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
338 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 5 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 2002, with 59 claims and $1.1M 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.
70 NOAA storm reports from Boyd County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 6 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, 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 | Apr 2, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides | Dec 31, 2021 |
| Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 8, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
102 since 1996: 46 flash floods and 56 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $150 |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | $500 |
| Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 31, 2025. Flooding concerns quickly arose on the morning of January 31st in northeast Kentucky as a low pressure system pressed into the region. Rain first entered into Kentucky around daybreak that morning then continued to be inundated by periods of heavy rainfall through the afternoon. This resulted in impassable roadways due to high water issues across the area. The disturbance departed to the northeast by the second ha…
Flood · Feb 17, 2025. Light showers started to arrive into northeast Kentucky on the evening of February 14th, with more substantial rain spreading across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky. This precipitation band lifted no…
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Light showers started to arrive into northeast Kentucky on the evening of February 14th, with more substantial rain spreading across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky. This precipitation band lifted no…
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2025. A stationary front hovered over Ohio and Pennsylvania on the 5th and 6th of June. The front briefly resumed a southeast march into West Virginia on the 7th before stalling across the area once again. A low pressure system finally pushed the boundary to the north and then sent a cold front through the middle Ohio Valley and central Appalachians on the 8th. ||During this time, rounds of very heavy rain within thunde…
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 Boyd 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.