6 flood insurance claims·$155,835 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 Grayson 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 dominates the flood character of Grayson County, accounting for the vast majority of historical flood events over the last 30 years compared to standard riverine floods. This hazard is driven by severe weather patterns, such as the system of supercells and bowing segments associated with a stalling cold front that caused multiple flash flood events in April 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs in both designated high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A properties recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $104,692 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $51,143 and an average recorded water depth of 50 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within both Zone A and Zone X, as both areas have experienced costly claims. Properties outside of traditional high-risk zones require careful evaluation given the significant water depths and payouts recorded in Zone X.
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 50 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 2025, with 4 claims and $155,835 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides.
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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Grayson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
29 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 1 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, Tornadoes, Landslides, And Mudslides | May 21, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Feb 29, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 36 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2020 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2020 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 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 · Apr 3, 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 · Jan 3, 2023. During the overnight hours and into the morning on January 3rd, a strong system moved across central Kentucky, bringing isolated damaging wind gusts and widespread heavy rainfall. The system was associated with a negatively-tilted upper-level trough which moved from the Four Corners region on January 2nd to the upper Midwest by January 4th. A surface cyclone transited in a similar fashion to the upper trough, with…
Flash Flood · Mar 28, 2020. Like much of the severe weather in March, the 28th saw the same conditions with the Ohio Valley ahead of an upper trough with an embedded low system. During the day, warm moist air advanced north ahead of a later cold front. This set up provided the atmosphere with the energy to produce lightning and severe winds that caused damage throughout central Kentucky. There were a couple of reports of lightning striking b…
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 Grayson 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.