79 flood insurance claims·$1.9M paid·1 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 Scott 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 severe storm systems dominates the flood risk profile in Scott County, Kentucky, accounting for 53 events and one death over the last 30 years alongside 14 general flood events. Recent weather patterns illustrate this hazard, including a strong storm system on February 15, 2025, that brought heavy rainfall and flooding driven by unseasonably high moisture from the Gulf of America. Additional heavy rainfall occurred overnight from April 2 to April 3, 2025, as a cold front stalled over the lower Ohio Valley and produced training storms across central Kentucky.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within high-risk Zone A face the most severe impacts, logging 49 claims with an average payout of $35,942 and an average recorded water depth of 24 inches. Properties in moderate-to-low risk zones also experience losses, including 15 claims in unshaded Zone X with an average payout of $15,362 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches, 10 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $15,563 and an average depth of 1 inch, and 5 claims in shaded Zone X with an average payout of $12,087 and an average depth of 2 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A due to the significantly higher water depths and financial losses associated with those locations.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
29% of Scott County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
69 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 19 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 2015, with 26 claims and $854,420 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, 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.
32 NOAA storm reports from Scott County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 1 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, Flooding, And Landslides | Feb 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Apr 2, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 27, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Jan 26, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, And Mudslides | May 26, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
67 since 1996: 53 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | $20,000 · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jun 13, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 11, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A strong storm system moved across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on February 15th and 16th, 2025, bringing heavy rainfall and flooding, severe weather, and winter weather to central Kentucky. The large scale upper level pattern featured deep troughing ejecting across the central CONUS, with broad southwesterly flow occurring in the low and mid troposphere. Southerly flow helped to draw rich moisture up from the G…
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…
Flood · Feb 28, 2021. A stalled frontal boundary brought waves of heavy rainfall to central Kentucky from February 26 through February 28. This caused record rainfall, isolated severe winds, and even a tornado. As a result, Bowling Green set a February daily rainfall record with 5.11 on the 28th. The severe winds brought down some trees and a power pole, but the most property damage came from a brief EF1 tornado.
Flash Flood · Jun 13, 2021. Central Kentucky sat under the leading edge of an upper ridge during a period of typical summer weather. Temperatures rose during the day creating strong instability in the atmosphere that caused showers and thunderstorms to breakout. As rain filled downdrafts initiated outflow boundaries, the outflow boundaries initiated more storms. This happened daily before a weak cold front pushed drier air into the region.…
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 Scott 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.