122 flood insurance claims·$3.4M paid·3 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 Nelson 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.
Flooding in Nelson County, Kentucky is dominated by standard riverine floods, accounting for 63 events and 4 deaths over the past 30 years, alongside 27 flash flood events and 1 death. Recent severe weather patterns are illustrated by events in June 2025, driven by a cut-off upper low pressure and a stationary front that produced afternoon showers and thunderstorms with precipitable water values near 2 inches. Additional severe conditions occurred in April 2025, when a stalling cold front brought overnight supercells and bowing segments that tracked eastward across central Kentucky.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties in Zone A have experienced the highest concentration of historical claims with 86 filings, averaging $35,615 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 12 claims averaging $35,181 with an average water depth of 9 inches, and unshaded Zone X properties logged 12 claims averaging $31,421 with an average water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located within Zone A and Zone X should pay the most attention to flood risk, given the frequency of claims and historical payouts associated with these zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
16% of Nelson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
102 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 2010, with 31 claims and $1.0M 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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Nelson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 3 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 Winter Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Tornadoes | May 1, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
90 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 63 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $10,000 · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 15, 2025. Split upper-level flow set up over the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys for several days between June 15th and 17th, 2025. Upper low pressure became cut off, with a surface stationary front meandering back and forth across the lower Ohio Valley. In the vicinity of the surface front, a moist and unstable environment was present, with precipitable water values near 2 inches. Each afternoon, scattered to numerous showers…
Flood · Jun 15, 2025. Split upper-level flow set up over the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys for several days between June 15th and 17th, 2025. Upper low pressure became cut off, with a surface stationary front meandering back and forth across the lower Ohio Valley. In the vicinity of the surface front, a moist and unstable environment was present, with precipitable water values near 2 inches. Each afternoon, scattered to numerous showers…
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. On the night of April 2nd, 2025, a cold front approached the lower Ohio Valley. Along and ahead of the cold front, numerous supercells developed over southern Illinois and western Kentucky. These storms tracked eastward and occasionally grew upscale into a QLCS with bowing segments. Storms lasted all night and into the morning hours, as the cold front began to stall over the lower Ohio Valley. These storms left be…
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. On the night of April 2nd, 2025, a cold front approached the lower Ohio Valley. Along and ahead of the cold front, numerous supercells developed over southern Illinois and western Kentucky. These storms tracked eastward and occasionally grew upscale into a QLCS with bowing segments. Storms lasted all night and into the morning hours, as the cold front began to stall over the lower Ohio Valley. These storms left be…
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 Nelson 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.