141 flood insurance claims·$3.5M paid·3 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 Harrison 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 driven by summer thunderstorms and heavy rainfall systems dominates the flood character of Harrison County, accounting for 33 of the 46 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 13 general flood events. Recent documented events include a strong system that brought widespread heavy rainfall during the overnight and morning hours on January 3, 2023. Additionally, a persistent weather pattern brought heavy thunderstorms on July 27, 2023, with over 5 inches of rain reported, and a slow-moving system produced persistent rain and thunderstorms concluding on May 6, 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that historical claims are concentrated in specific zones. Zone A properties account for the vast majority of claims with 117 filings, averaging a payout of $26,071 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties experienced fewer claims totaling 8, but recorded a higher average payout of $55,974 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches. Zone X shaded properties recorded 4 claims with an average payout of $38,583 and an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X unshaded properties saw 5 claims averaging $9,119 with an average water depth of 9 inches. Zone Unknown properties logged 7 claims averaging $1,217 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Property owners in high-risk Zone A, as well as those located in Zone X who face deeper average water accumulations during flood events, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Harrison County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
126 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 7 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 1997, with 93 claims and $2.8M paid, the year of Severe Storm, Flooding, 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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Harrison County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 3 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 Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Tornadoes | May 1, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
46 since 1996: 33 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2020 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2020 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 31, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 27, 2023. Northwest flow in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere placed central Kentucky and southern Indiana on the edge of a ring of fire type pattern for several days at the end of July 2023. While most of the waves of convection remained to the north of the area thanks to building ridging aloft July 27th into the 28th, thunderstorms on July 27th clipped the Kentucky Bluegrass region. The primary impact from these…
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 · May 6, 2022. During the morning hours of May 5th, a surface warm front moved northward through central Kentucky before becoming nearly stationary near the Ohio River. South of this boundary, the atmosphere destabilized during the afternoon hours, allowing for clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms. Rain persisted across the region overnight from the 5th into the morning of the 6th as the surface low moved slowly to the eas…
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.
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 Harrison 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.