180 flood insurance claims·$5.3M 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 Pendleton 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.
River flooding and flash flooding from storms dominate Pendleton County, backed by 45 flood events causing 6 deaths and 24 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Storm events include heavy showers and thunderstorms developed during the morning hours ahead of a low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley, such as those recorded in January 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims concentrated in high-risk areas. Properties in Zone A account for the vast majority of claims with 169 filings, averaging a $30,924 payout and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X with 3 claims averaging a $77,000 payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, Zone X Unshaded with 4 claims averaging a $42,963 payout and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches, and Zone Unknown with 4 claims averaging a $12,094 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, where the heaviest concentration of historical flood claims and standing water depths has occurred.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Pendleton County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
173 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 10 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 1997, with 141 claims and $4.7M paid, the year of Severe Storm, Flooding, 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from Pendleton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 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, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 6, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 21, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Snowstorms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Feb 29, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 45 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Apr 7, 2025 | — · 1 killed |
| Flood | Jan 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 3, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Apr 28, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 25, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 8, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms developed in a warm and unstable airmass.
Flood · Apr 7, 2025. Rivers and streams remained high due to earlier heavy rainfall.
Flood · Jan 3, 2023. Showers and thunderstorms developed during the morning hours ahead of a low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley.
Flash Flood · Jan 3, 2023. Showers and thunderstorms developed during the morning hours ahead of a low pressure system moving through the Ohio Valley.
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 Pendleton 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.