27 flood insurance claims·$362,075 paid·6 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 Lincoln 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 storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Lincoln County, Kentucky, accounting for 29 out of 33 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside one recorded fatality.
Severe weather patterns driving these events are documented in historical NOAA storm records. For example, a stalled frontal boundary brought waves of heavy rainfall to the region from February 26 through February 28, 2021. Later, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a quasi-stationary surface frontal boundary on July 28, 2022. Widespread rainfall also accompanied a large cold front moving through the Lower Ohio Valley on September 13, 2020, following an earlier heavy rain event driven by an upper trough and moisture transport on February 23, 2019.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas as well as unshaded areas. FEMA claims data shows that Zone A properties experienced 11 claims with an average water depth of 2 inches and an average payout of $13,433. Meanwhile, properties categorized under Zone X unshaded recorded 5 claims with an average water depth of 10 inches and an average payout of $48,210, while Zone Unknown properties logged 11 claims with an average water depth of 3 inches and an average payout of $3,174.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 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 1996, with 6 claims and $70,196 paid.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Lincoln County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 6 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, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 26, 2022 |
| Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 27, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 8, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
33 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 28, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 13, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 30, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | $300,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 28, 2022. During the mid-to-late afternoon hours on July 27th, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed immediately ahead of a quasi-stationary surface frontal boundary located near the Ohio River. Across central Kentucky, temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s and dewpoints in the mid 70s provided copious amounts of instability, with convection having mixed-layer CAPE in excess of 3000 J/kg to work with. During t…
Flash Flood · Feb 28, 2021. A stalled frontal boundary brought waves of heavy rainfall to central Kentucky from February 26 through February 28. This caused record rainfall, isolated severe winds, and even a tornado. As a result, Bowling Green set a February daily rainfall record with 5.11 on the 28th. The severe winds brought down some trees and a power pole, but the most property damage came from a brief EF1 tornado.
Flash Flood · Sep 13, 2020. On September 13th, a large cold front covering the eastern United Stated slide southeast through the Lower Ohio Valley. This caused widespread rainfall. Areas in Casey County received over 4 inches of rainfall, causing many parts of Liberty and surrounding areas to flood. Several roadways were closed, and multiple structures were flooded.
Flash Flood · Nov 30, 2019. A low pressure system approached central Kentucky from the west with a warm front extending to the east and a cold front to the south. Early in the day as the warm front moved north through central Kentucky, the lift provided by the front caused widespread heavy rainfall in areas that were already saturated from previous rains. Flash flooding was the result across several counties in central Kentucky. The rain cam…
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 Lincoln 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.