73 flood insurance claims·$1.2M 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 Hopkins 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.
Hopkins County experiences a balanced mix of riverine flooding and flash flooding, with 35 flood events and 34 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent severe weather events illustrate this risk, including significant flash flooding and flooding driven by heavy, wave-like rains associated with a stationary warm front in February 2025, as well as flooding issues that developed across the Kentucky Pennyrile following an eastward-moving squall line in May 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records demonstrate that properties in high-risk areas face the greatest impact, led by Zone A with 31 claims averaging $33,733 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. However, properties outside designated high-risk zones also experience losses, including 21 claims in Zone X averaging $16,386 with an average water depth of 4 inches, and 11 claims in unshaded Zone X averaging $6,982 with an average water depth of 8 inches. An additional 10 claims with unknown zones averaged $1,036 with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists in Hopkins County should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, while recognizing that moderate flood risks extend to properties mapped in Zone X.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
26% of Hopkins County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
42 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 6 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 9 claims and $475,166 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides and Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding.
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.
37 NOAA storm reports from Hopkins County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 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, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 34 flash floods and 35 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | $270,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Dec 18, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Nov 10, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 20, 2025. A squall line moved eastward through Western Kentucky from mid to late afternoon ahead of an evening cold frontal passage. Several damaging wind reports were received, along with additional sub-severe wind gust observations. A funnel cloud was observed north of Crofton. Flooding issues developed in portions of the Kentucky Pennyrile. MLCAPE values were around 1000-1250J/kg, DCAPE was 700-1000J/kg, and effective bu…
Flood · Feb 16, 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…
Flash 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…
Flash Flood · May 23, 2024. Scattered afternoon convection became more numerous for the mid-afternoon hours in the northern Pennyrile. MLCAPE was around 1000 J/kg while shear was limited. Many of these showers had high rain rates due to PW of 1.5-1.75 inch, particularly along a west-east boundary that slowly drifted northward. Storm progression to the ENE brought extended periods of heavier rainfall from 1200-1600CST, with Hopkins and Davies…
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 Hopkins 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.