380 flood insurance claims·$6.3M 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 Henderson 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.
River flooding and general flood events dominate the flood character of Henderson County, backed by 80 recorded flood events and 2 deaths compared to 31 flash flood events over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent flooding events, such as those in February and October 2025, resulted from heavy rainfall and rising water levels along major regional waterways including the Ohio and Green Rivers, where the Green River crested just above major flood stage at 32.4 feet and caused structural damage in lower areas.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risk is heavily concentrated in specific zones. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of claims with 358 filed, an average payout of $18,873, and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. In contrast, unshaded Zone X recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $27,101 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while standard Zone X recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $2,889 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risk given the high volume of historical claims and greater average water depths associated with riverine flooding.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Henderson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
374 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 5 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 2005, with 57 claims and $1.4M paid, the year of Hurricane Katrina.
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.
54 NOAA storm reports from Henderson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
23 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, 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, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 6, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
111 since 1996: 31 flash floods and 80 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 18, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Feb 10, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 9, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Oct 7, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 18, 2025. A surface boundary was positioned west to east across the Quad State during the early afternoon with convective activity increasing with daytime heating. Scattered convection primarily occurred south of the boundary mid to late afternoon. MLCAPE reached 2000-3000J/kg but effective bulk shear was very limited. Precipitable water values over 2 allowed for torrential rainfall rates. Training storm activity was limite…
Flood · Feb 18, 2025. Two waves of heavy rainfall (2-7) over the Ohio, Tennessee, and Green River Valleys on the 15th resulted in minor flooding along a large portion of the Ohio River, including the Evansville, Henderson, Golconda, Smithland, and Cairo areas. Minor and moderate flooding occurred around Owensboro, Paducah, and Olmsted. The river crested at moderate flood levels at Owensboro (44.1 feet), Paducah (43.2 feet), and Olmsted…
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2025. A surface cold front stalled out as it moved towards the northern edge of the Quad State on the 17th. Showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours, tracking eastward, including a broken line of storms moving through the Evansville Tri-State area mid-afternoon. An outflow boundary from a decayed MCS to the north helped initiate some of the storm development. MLCAPE was a very strong 4000J/kg but b…
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…
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 Henderson 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.