9 flood insurance claims·$248,059 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 Webster 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.
Webster County experiences a near-even mix of flash floods and standard floods, with 25 flash flood events resulting in 1 death and 24 general flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Recent flooding is driven by regional weather patterns, such as the significant heavy rainfall events that occurred in February 2025 due to low-level moisture streaming northward over a stationary warm front.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks affect properties across different designated zones. Zone A has accumulated 8 claims with an average payout of $22,931 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X has recorded 1 claim with a higher average payout of $87,541 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists tracking property risk in Webster County should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A and Zone X, as both areas have documented claim histories and varying severities of water accumulation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 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 2025, with 3 claims and $117,724 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides and Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and 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 Webster County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 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 Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 6, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 21, 2018 |
| Severe Storm, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jul 2, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
49 since 1996: 25 flash floods and 24 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 22, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 30, 2025. Low pressure tracked northeastward through the night on the 29th into the 30th, bringing a broad area of moderate rain. More robust activity developed over Webster County resulting in trees blown down in several parts of the county. MLCAPE was around 250J/kg while shear was near 30kts.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Significant flash flooding occurred over west Kentucky, as anomalously high amounts of low-level moisture streamed northward over a warm front that became stationary along the Tennessee border. Steady rains began just after 0000CST on the 15th and continued until around 0100CST on the 16th. The rain came in waves with the first one targeting Fulton, Murray, Fort Campbell, and Guthrie with 1-2��� in the pre-d…
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. Significant flash flooding occurred over west Kentucky, as anomalously high amounts of low-level moisture streamed northward over a warm front that became stationary along the Tennessee border. Steady rains began just after 0000CST on the 15th and continued until around 0100CST on the 16th. The rain came in waves with the first one targeting Fulton, Murray, Fort Campbell, and Guthrie with 1-2��� in the pre-d…
Flood · May 22, 2024. A surface boundary moved through Western Kentucky and Tennessee the afternoon of the 22nd. The primary line of storms was in Tennessee while smaller scale SW to NE oriented heavy rain bands flared up three times in Western Kentucky. MLCAPE was 2000-3000 J/kg while DCAPE was 500-750 J/kg. Effective bulk shear was around 30-35 kts. Mid-level lapse rates were 6.5-7.5 C/km. Surface frontogenesis was strongest in Weste…
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 Webster 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.