594 flood insurance claims·$10.0M paid·11 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 Perry 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 in Perry County, Kentucky. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 55 flash flood events resulting in 7 deaths, alongside 30 general flood events. Training thunderstorms dropping rainfall rates in excess of 4 inches per hour over complex terrain drove catastrophic impacts during events such as those in July 2022 and August 2022.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk areas bear the brunt of property damage, though claims extend outside designated special flood hazard areas. Zone A properties account for the vast majority of historical claims with 479 filings averaging a $20,505 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Moderate- and lower-risk areas also experience water damage, including 57 claims in unshaded Zone X with an average payout of $21,727 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, 33 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $19,084 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, and 23 claims in shaded Zone X with an average payout of $13,029 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A face the highest frequency of claims, but property owners in unshaded and shaded Zone X areas should also pay close attention to flood risk given the documented history of payouts and water depths outside high-risk zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Perry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
559 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 1984, with 278 claims and $2.8M paid, the year of High Winds, Tornadoes & Flooding.
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.
31 NOAA storm reports from Perry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
46 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 11 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 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, And Mudslides | May 21, 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.
85 since 1996: 55 flash floods and 30 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Aug 29, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Jul 28, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 28, 2022 | — · 6 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2022 | — · 1 killed |
| Flood | Aug 7, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2020 | $6,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Aug 29, 2022. A strong storm system was in place across the Upper Mississippi Valley, with all attention for severe weather concentrated there for the day. SPC had all of eastern Kentucky in just a general thunderstorm risk, with increasing risk levels as you headed farther northwest towards the main storm system. That being said, with high pressure to our southeast, Kentucky was in a warm and moist airmass with decent SW flow…
Flood · Jul 28, 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…
Flash Flood · Jul 28, 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…
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 Perry 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.