288 flood insurance claims·$6.0M 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 Clark 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.
Flash flooding from summer and autumn thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Clark County, driven by 34 recorded flash flood events compared to 7 standard flood events over the last 30 years. NOAA storm data illustrates this hazard, noting severe weather systems fueled by Gulf of Mexico moisture that produced flash flooding in July 2021 and October 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that historical claims and flood depths vary significantly by zone. Zone A accounts for the highest impact with 203 claims, an average payout of $27,018, and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Properties in zones with unknown or unshaded designations have also experienced claims, including 46 claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaging a $15,052 payout with an average depth of 5 inches, 22 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaging a $12,864 payout with an average depth of 2 inches, 16 claims in Zone X averaging a $10,669 payout with an average depth of 1 inch, and 1 claim in Zone X_SHADED with an average payout of $0 and an average depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which shows the highest frequency of claims and deepest average water levels, as well as unmapped or unknown zones where significant claims have also occurred.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Clark County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
226 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 8 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 2010, with 53 claims and $1.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Clark County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 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 |
| Remnants Of Hurricane Helene | Sep 27, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| 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.
41 since 1996: 34 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 7, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 9, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 28, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Mar 4, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2021. Scattered thunderstorms, ahead of a could front, drifted south through southern Indiana and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky in an unstable environment. Some of these storms became severe causing isolated tree damage and flash flooding in Kentucky counties. The most severe flooding was in Carlisle, Kentucky after heavy rainfall continued falling over the same area. Several buildings and vehicles were destroyed, an…
Flash Flood · Oct 7, 2021. Central Kentucky was located in the warm sector ahead of a surface low to the west, a west to east oriented warm front to the north, and a north to south oriented cold front to the southwest. Moderate instability and shear from strong southern flow took advantage of the added Gulf of Mexico moisture. This produced thunderstorms that caused isolated severe wind damage and flash flooding over the two day period.
Flash Flood · Jul 1, 2021. Early on July 1st, there was a moist unstable air mass over southern Indiana and central Kentucky. Farther north in Indiana, a west to east oriented cold front was working its way south. This resulted in heavy rainfall and area flash flooding over central Kentucky as the front moved through the region. A Flash Flood Watch was in place before the event.
Flash Flood · May 19, 2020. May 18, the Lower Ohio Valley was primed with a moist atmosphere that was in place from southerly surface flow from the Gulf of Mexico, and as a cold front moved through the region, severe thunderstorms caused tree damage and isolated flooding. On the 19th, the flooding became more widespread as heavy rain was produced from outflow boundaries remaining in the region from the previous day's storms.
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 Clark 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.