32 flood insurance claims·$574,523 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 Henry 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 history of Henry County, accounting for 18 out of 27 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 9 standard flood events.
Local flood risks are driven by heavy rainfall and saturated basin conditions, as seen during repeated rounds of rainfall in February 2018 and heavy precipitation events in August 2017. National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood impacts affect multiple zones, led by Zone A with 23 claims averaging a payout of $24,832 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Additional claims include 5 in Zone UNKNOWN with an average payout of $5,489 and an average water depth of 13 inches, and 4 claims in Zone X averaging $12,608 with an average water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, which has experienced the highest frequency and total volume of insurance claims, as well as properties in unmapped or moderate-risk areas that have still recorded damaging flood depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Henry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
23 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 10 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 14 claims and $211,834 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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Henry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
23 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 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 2, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 6, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
27 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 3, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 24, 2018 | $85,000 |
| Flood | Feb 23, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Apr 15, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Mar 5, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 3, 2020. Early on September 2nd, a couple of cold fronts with embedded lows headed south towards central Kentucky. The first of these front passed through Kentucky on the 2nd. This brought isolated severe wind damage and flooding, but as the second low/cold front moved through on the 3rd, heavy rainfall caused urban flooding issues across Jefferson County.
Flash Flood · Feb 24, 2018. A stalled frontal boundary interacting with highly anomalous moisture from the Gulf of Mexico interacted with multiple weather systems that brought widespread heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms to central Kentucky February 24 through the early morning hours February 25. A Flash Flood Emergency was issued for Jefferson County, KY including Louisville metro. There were over 50 water rescues alone in Jefferson C…
Flood · Feb 23, 2018. Repeated rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall across the entire Ohio River basin totaled between 8 to 9 inches across central Kentucky from February 15 to February 28. These totals were generally 7+ inches, or 200 to 400% of normal values for mid to late February. The large areal extent of the excessive rainfall led to significant rises on area rivers, including the Ohio River. The Ohio River along the Indiana and…
Flash Flood · Aug 3, 2017. Afternoon to evening thunderstorms developed the first few days of August 2017. The atmosphere was plenty unstable but a lack of deep wind shear prevented storms from being anything more organized than pulse and marginally severe. A few instances of 1 inch hail was reported along with isolated reports of downed trees and 55 to 60 mph wind gusts.
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 Henry 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.