1 flood insurance claims·$436 paid·2 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 Edmonson 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.
Edmonson County experiences a flood risk characterized primarily by standard river floods and frequent flash flooding driven by severe weather systems. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 33 flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 20 flash flood events.
Recent occurrences illustrate these patterns. In May 2021, a cold front moving over already saturated ground produced widespread flash flooding and isolated severe wind damage. More recently, in April 2025, a slow-moving cold front and associated supercells tracked across western and central Kentucky, bringing all-night storms that caused significant damage across the region.
FEMA records indicate limited National Flood Insurance Program claim history, including a single claim in an unknown zone that resulted in an average payout of $436 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Properties located in unmapped or unknown zones, as well as homes situated near waterways and flood-prone areas, should pay the closest attention to local flood risks and precipitation forecasts.
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 1 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Edmonson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1989, 2 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, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 27, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
53 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 33 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 4, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Dec 2, 2019 | $5,000 · 1 killed |
| Flood | Feb 25, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. On the night of April 2nd, 2025, a cold front approached the lower Ohio Valley. Along and ahead of the cold front, numerous supercells developed over southern Illinois and western Kentucky. These storms tracked eastward and occasionally grew upscale into a QLCS with bowing segments. Storms lasted all night and into the morning hours, as the cold front began to stall over the lower Ohio Valley. These storms left be…
Flash Flood · Feb 28, 2021. A stalled frontal boundary brought waves of heavy rainfall to central Kentucky from February 26 through February 28. This caused record rainfall, isolated severe winds, and even a tornado. As a result, Bowling Green set a February daily rainfall record with 5.11 on the 28th. The severe winds brought down some trees and a power pole, but the most property damage came from a brief EF1 tornado.
Flash Flood · May 4, 2021. Early on May 3rd, central Kentucky sat in the warm sector ahead of an approaching surface low. Much of the region saw only rain showers, but one isolated cell in southern Kentucky was able to produce a short lived EF-1 tornado in the city of Tompkinsville, KY. ||On May 4th, a cold front, following the first system, produced additional rain showers and thunderstorms on the already saturated ground. The result was w…
Flash Flood · Mar 12, 2020. On March 12th, two warm fronts moved north through the Ohio Valley carrying warm moist air ahead of cold front that moved through later in the day. As the cold front moved through, it produces heavy rainfall and flooding across central Kentucky. Severe hail and severe wind storms were also observed.
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 Edmonson 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.