260 flood insurance claims·$2.8M 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 Magoffin 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 general river flooding driven by severe convective storms and low-pressure systems dominate the flood risk in Magoffin County. Over the last 30 years, recorded events include 44 flash floods and 27 general floods. Recent historical examples include a nocturnal convective squall line that moved through Eastern Kentucky in April 2025, producing both flood and flash flood events, and training thunderstorms in July 2022 that brought heavy rain, deadly flash flooding, and devastating river flooding to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that risk extends across multiple mapped zones. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 119 claims with an average payout of $6,424 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone A accounts for 91 claims with an average payout of $17,663 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X recorded 31 claims with an average payout of $23,119 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X_SHADED recorded 8 claims with an average payout of $9,595 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 11 claims with an average payout of $8,769 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A, Zone X, and unmapped or unknown zones should pay the most attention to this sustained flood exposure.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
17% of Magoffin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
110 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 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 1981, with 57 claims and $328,941 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.
29 NOAA storm reports from Magoffin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
49 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, 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 |
| Remnants Of Hurricane Helene | Sep 27, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 15, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 26, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
71 since 1996: 44 flash floods and 27 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2023 | $35,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. On the afternoon of the 2nd a strong surface low was located over the MN/WI area, with a warm front extending southwest through the OH valley, and a trailing cold front extending SSE through the Ozarks. By 00Z (the evening of the 2nd), a strong convective squall line had developed across the Ohio and Mississippi Valley which slowly continued east through the evening. By early morning on the 3rd this strong, noctur…
Flood · Apr 3, 2025. On the afternoon of the 2nd a strong surface low was located over the MN/WI area, with a warm front extending southwest through the OH valley, and a trailing cold front extending SSE through the Ozarks. By 00Z (the evening of the 2nd), a strong convective squall line had developed across the Ohio and Mississippi Valley which slowly continued east through the evening. By early morning on the 3rd this strong, noctur…
Flash Flood · Feb 16, 2023. A low pressure center was slowly tracking into western Kentucky during the first part of the day on Wedensday, with a stationary front positioned along the Ohio River, and keeping much of eastern Kentucky in a warm, moist, and unstable airmass. Showers and thunderstorms were ongoing through much of the morning, leading to multiple flooding reports across the region. Then by the afternoon, the low pressure center h…
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…
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 Magoffin 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.