10 flood insurance claims·$136,282 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 Marion 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Marion County, Kentucky, supported by 29 recorded flash flood events compared to 10 general flood events over the last 30 years, resulting in one fatality.
Recent historic events illustrate this pattern. A strong storm system on February 16, 2023, brought large-scale moist upglide across the Ohio Valley. Later in the year, active weather on July 18, 2023, brought multiple waves of showers and thunderstorms to the region. Additionally, a persistent Northwest flow pattern on July 29, 2023, delivered heavy amounts of rainfall exceeding 5 inches in parts of the area.
Property owners and real estate professionals should pay the closest attention to properties located within FEMA Zone A, which has recorded the highest impact with 4 claims averaging an $82,000 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Properties in unshaded and standard Zone X areas also carry risk, having recorded multiple claims with average payouts of $17,884 and $7,179 respectively, and average water depths of 2 inches.
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 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 2010, with 3 claims and $123,075 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Tornadoes.
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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Marion County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 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, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
| 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.
39 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 29, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 18, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2023 | — · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 30, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 29, 2023. Northwest flow in the mid- and upper-levels of the atmosphere placed central Kentucky and southern Indiana on the edge of a ring of fire type pattern for several days at the end of July 2023. While most of the waves of convection remained to the north of the area thanks to building ridging aloft July 27th into the 28th, thunderstorms on July 27th clipped the Kentucky Bluegrass region. The primary impact from these…
Flash Flood · Jul 18, 2023. Another active period of weather set up across central Kentucky and southern Indiana July 17th and 18th, 2023 as multiple waves of showers and thunderstorms moved across the region, bringing damaging straight-line winds, severe hail, and one tornado to the region. The synoptic pattern was fairly consistent (albeit active) during this period, with large-scale mid- and upper-level troughing extending from Hudson Bay…
Flood · Feb 16, 2023. A strong storm system moved through the Ohio Valley beginning late in the evening on February 15th and continuing through much of the day on February 16th. An amplified mid- and upper-level trough moved across the central Plains during this time period, with an associated surface disturbance transiting from the Red River Valley northeastward into the Ohio Valley. A surface warm front was located parallel to the Oh…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2021. South of a slow moving front across Illinois and Indiana, scattered convection initiated across central Kentucky in the warm sector. A few of the stronger storms caused scattered wind damage, isolated flash flooding, and a fire caused by lightning.
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 Marion 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.