120 flood insurance claims·$892,071 paid·11 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 Knox 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 and river flooding dominate the flood risk profile in Knox County, with NOAA records detailing 53 flash flood events resulting in 1 death and 36 general flood events resulting in 1 death over the last 30 years. Recent flood events include heavy rainfall systems in February 2022 that brought two-day precipitation totals ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 inches as waves of low pressure interacted with a slow-moving arctic cold front.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located in high-risk Zone A face the highest average severity, with 49 claims averaging $13,674 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Additional claims occur across Zone UNKNOWN (28 claims, averaging $6,028 and an average of 2 inches of water), Zone X (23 claims, averaging $11,949 and an average of 2 inches of water), Zone X_SHADED (19 claims, averaging $7,665 and an average of 2 inches of water), and Zone X_UNSHADED (1 claim averaging $459 with 0 inches of recorded water depth). Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A due to the higher financial losses and water depths associated with those claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
29% of Knox County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
69 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 2 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 1984, with 39 claims and $187,706 paid, the year of High Winds, Tornadoes & 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.
33 NOAA storm reports from Knox County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
39 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 11 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, Tornadoes, Landslides, And Mudslides | May 21, 2024 |
| Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 3, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
89 since 1996: 53 flash floods and 36 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 6, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 27, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | $2.5M |
| Flash Flood | May 5, 2020 | $200 |
| Flood | Feb 5, 2020 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 6, 2022. A warm front was in place across the state during the morning hours on May 6th, setting the stage for increased moisture and warm air into the region. By the afternoon, a nearby low pressure system began to occlude, furthering the lift and instability across the state. Showers and thunderstorms developed across much of the region throughout the day, becoming strong to severe by mid-day. Flooding and wind damage wa…
Flood · Feb 4, 2022. Periods of mostly light to moderate rain spread across eastern Kentucky on February 2nd and February 3rd, as waves of low pressure rode along a slow-moving arctic cold front settling in from the northwest. The strongest and last wave of low pressure lifted across the Appalachians late February 3rd and into February 4th bringing with it a final round of rain, changing over to a wintry mix and eventually snow flurri…
Flood · Feb 3, 2022. Periods of mostly light to moderate rain spread across eastern Kentucky on February 2nd and February 3rd, as waves of low pressure rode along a slow-moving arctic cold front settling in from the northwest. The strongest and last wave of low pressure lifted across the Appalachians late February 3rd and into February 4th bringing with it a final round of rain, changing over to a wintry mix and eventually snow flurri…
Flash Flood · Feb 28, 2021. Several rounds of heavy rain moved across eastern Kentucky from late Friday, February 26th through early Monday, March 1st. The combination of all the heavy rainfall led to significant flooding across a good portion of central and east Kentucky. For some areas, this was the most significant flooding in the last 50 to 60 years, or more. FEMA estimates that this event cost $350-400 million dollars in damages, incl…
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 Knox 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.