15 flood insurance claims·$369,461 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 Crittenden 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.
Crittenden County experiences flood risk driven primarily by general riverine flooding and heavy-rain events rather than coastal storm surge. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records document 44 flood events—resulting in one death—along with 22 flash flood events.
Recent events illustrate these hazards across the region. A significant flash flood and flooding event occurred on February 15, 2025, driven by anomalously high low-level moisture moving northward over a stationary warm front along the Tennessee border. Steady rains fell in multiple waves over a 24-hour period, generating widespread flood reports as water levels rose.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties located within FEMA Zone A. Historical insurance data shows that properties in Zone A have accounted for 15 claims with an average payout of $28,420 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches.
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 2011, with 10 claims and $274,574 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Crittenden County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1996, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | May 16, 2025 |
| 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, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 22 flash floods and 44 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 17, 2022 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Apr 13, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2021 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Feb 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 11, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Feb 20, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
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…
Flash Flood · Feb 17, 2022. Several rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms moved across the region on the 17th. Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches created pockets of road flooding, along with flash flooding of creeks that affected several dwellings. Larger rivers rose out of their banks in subsequent days. The heavy rain occurred ahead of a cold front as it entered southeast Missouri and southern Illinois from the northwest. Weak waves of low pressur…
Flood · Apr 13, 2022. A squall line of thunderstorms occurred ahead of a strong cold front that trailed southward from a low pressure center over the Great Lakes region. The squall line moved rapidly east-northeast from Arkansas and northwest Tennessee across southwest Kentucky. Pockets of minor to moderate wind damage occurred south of a line from Paducah to Madisonville to Owensboro. A few brief tornadoes accompanied meso-vortices wi…
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 Crittenden 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.