205 flood insurance claims·$6.6M paid·13 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 Knott 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 from severe weather events dominates the flood risk profile in Knott County, accounting for 29 recorded events and 16 deaths over the last 30 years, alongside 18 general flood events. Heavy rainfall from approaching cold fronts, warm fronts, and complex low-pressure systems frequently causes streams to run high and triggers sudden inundation. Recent historical events include a flood in July 2023 driven by heavy rain and streams running high, as well as a flash flood in August 2022 resulting from a mesoscale convective system moving into the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A have experienced the heaviest impacts, logging 123 claims with an average payout of $44,376 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Properties in Zone X also face notable risk, with 32 claims averaging $54,241 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within designated Zone A and Zone X flood zones, where historical claims document significant structural water depths and financial losses.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Knott County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
125 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 2022, with 65 claims and $4.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms, 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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Knott County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
43 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 13 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | May 16, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | 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, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 15, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 26, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides | Dec 31, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
47 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 18 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 15, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2022 | — · 16 killed |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2022 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 27, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 31, 2025. A closed upper level low slowly moved out of SW CONUS and opened into a positively tilted trough as it approached KY. Large scale flow ahead of the lows approaching cold front, pulled gulf moisture northward. Soaking rain resulted for much of the area, as this moisture rich air lifted over a warm front as it progressed northward. On Friday, the 31st, the trailing cold front pushed through the area tapering rain of…
Flood · Jul 15, 2023. As a cold front approached from the west throughout the day, showers and storms were on tap for portions of eastern Kentucky. While these storms did not become severe or cause much impact from the winds or hail, they did put down some heavy rains. This led to 2 isolated reports of flooding in both Martin and Knott counties due to streams running high.
Flash Flood · Jul 27, 2022. Between July 25th and July 30th, 2022, several complexes of training thunderstorms developed south of I-64 and brought heavy rain, deadly flash flooding, and devastating river flooding to eastern Kentucky and central Appalachia. These thunderstorms, at times, caused rainfall rates in excess of 4/hr across complex terrain that led to widespread devastating impacts. While it did not rain continuously during this 4-d…
Flash Flood · Aug 1, 2022. A midlevel shortwave trough was situated over the Upper Midwest Sunday night (31st) into Monday morning (1st). At the surface, a strong occluded low was also present. From this low and occlusion, a warm front extended to the southeast, lifting through the Commonwealth during the same time frame. A MCS developed in the Upper Mississippi Valley and continued to push southeast towards the Commonwealth during the morn…
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 Knott 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.