125 flood insurance claims·$1.8M paid·8 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 Powell 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 equally dominate the flood history of Powell County, driven by a mix of 62 flash flood events and 59 general flood events over the last 30 years.
Recent weather patterns illustrate this risk, including heavy soaking rains from a slow-moving cold front in January 2025 and multiple rounds of heavy rainfall between late February and early March 2021 that caused significant flooding. The February 2021 event ranked as the costliest in the region, with FEMA estimating damages between $350 and $400 million.
National Flood Insurance Program records show the highest claim volume concentrated in FEMA Zone A with 95 claims averaging a $17,076 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Properties in Zone X also experienced claims, including 12 claims averaging a $12,857 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches, and 3 claims in unshaded Zone X averaging a $42,972 payout with 0 inches of average recorded water depth. In addition, 15 claims occurred in zones listed as unknown, averaging a $5,585 payout and an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in high-risk zones, as well as properties outside traditionally mapped high-risk areas, should pay close attention to these historical flood patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Powell County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
98 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 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 2004, with 29 claims and $367,808 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides.
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.
36 NOAA storm reports from Powell County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | May 16, 2025 |
| 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, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
121 since 1996: 62 flash floods and 59 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jan 31, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2021 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Dec 11, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jan 31, 2025. A closed upper level low slowly moved out of SW CONUS and opened into a positively tilted trough as it approached KY. Large scale flow ahead of the lows approaching cold front, pulled gulf moisture northward. Soaking rain resulted for much of the area, as this moisture rich air lifted over a warm front as it progressed northward. On Friday, the 31st, the trailing cold front pushed through the area tapering rain of…
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 · Aug 6, 2022. With a high pressure center sitting east of the state, Kentucky, along with much of the Deep South found themselves in a strong return flow pattern. This consisted of S to SW winds which were able to pump in ample moisture and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. However, with no boundaries or airmass changes nearby, the flow aloft was not very strong. High moisture and weak flow materialized into slow moving showers…
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2021. A strong low pressure system was present over the Great Lakes region to start the day on July 29th. From this extended a cold front to the southwest. As the low pressure continued eastward throughout the day, the cold front slowly shifted farther southward, before becoming elongated and slowing just north of the Ohio River. This kept much of Kentucky in the warm sector, with a strong push of warm/moist tropical ai…
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 Powell 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.