449 flood insurance claims·$8.7M paid·7 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 Carter 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.
Riverine flooding and flash flooding both shape the hazard profile of Carter County, Kentucky, with standard floods accounting for 54 events and 1 death, and flash floods accounting for 46 events and 3 deaths over the last 30 years. Recent NOAA storm records illustrate this pattern, including heavy rainfall from a low pressure system that created impassable roadways on January 31, 2025, and consecutive waves of rain totaling two to four inches that triggered flooding on February 6, 2025.
Federal insurance claims data shows that flood risks extend across multiple zones, with the highest concentration occurring in high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 278 claims with an average payout of $24,824 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Additional claims are distributed across unmapped and moderate-to-low risk zones, including 54 claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaging $6,955 with an average water depth of 3 inches, 52 claims in Zone X averaging $36,830 with an average water depth of 3 inches, 38 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaging $22,454 with an average water depth of 5 inches, and 27 claims in Zone X_SHADED averaging $18,118 with an average water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, as well as structures in unmapped and shaded or unshaded Zone X areas where historical claims and recorded water depths indicate ongoing vulnerability to heavy precipitation events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Carter County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
343 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 4 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 2003, with 105 claims and $1.3M paid, the year of Severe Winter Ice and Snow Storms, Heavy Rain, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Mud and and Severe Storms, Flooding, Mud and Rock Slides, 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.
66 NOAA storm reports from Carter County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
37 federal disaster declarations since 1978, 7 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 |
| Remnants Of Hurricane Helene | Sep 27, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 2, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 15, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides | Dec 31, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
100 since 1996: 46 flash floods and 54 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | $250 |
| Flood | May 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | $1,500 |
— = 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 · May 30, 2025. Beginning on the night of May 29th, a warm front lifted into the vicinity of eastern Kentucky and remained present overhead until being ushered east by a disturbance on the evening of the 30th. Behind this system, a cold front approached from the north and slowly descended southward through the area on the 31st.||Rounds of rain began on the morning of the 30th and continued to pass through the area overnight. Prec…
Flash Flood · May 30, 2025. Beginning on the night of May 29th, a warm front lifted into the vicinity of eastern Kentucky and remained present overhead until being ushered east by a disturbance on the evening of the 30th. Behind this system, a cold front approached from the north and slowly descended southward through the area on the 31st.||Rounds of rain began on the morning of the 30th and continued to pass through the area overnight. Prec…
Flash Flood · Jul 20, 2025. A cold front, trailing behind a surface low pressure system, approached from the north and then sank down through the middle Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians on July 21st. Ahead of its passage, the environment over eastern Kentucky on the 20th was hot and humid, imposing potential for damaging wind gusts and heavy downpours within strong thunderstorms. Storms that pressed through the area caused one downed tre…
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 Carter 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.