509 flood insurance claims·$16.9M paid·4 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 Woodford 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 Woodford County, accounting for 15 out of 21 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 6 general flood events.
Severe storms frequently produce heavy rainfall driven by slow-moving systems and high moisture levels. For example, on August 6, 2022, lingering thunderstorms with high precipitable water values caused multiple instances of flash flooding. Similarly, the remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy interacted with a cold front on June 23, 2017, dropping 3 to 6 inches of rain across central Kentucky and prompting swift water rescues.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of National Flood Insurance Program claims (383 claims with an average payout of $41,999 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches). Properties in shaded and unshaded Zone X zones, as well as unknown
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
20% of Woodford County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
476 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 1997, with 78 claims and $1.5M 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Woodford County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kentucky flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1978, 4 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, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 3, 2023 |
| Severe, Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 27, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
21 since 1996: 15 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 6, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2013 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 6, 2013 | $5,000 |
| Flood | May 2, 2010 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 6, 2022. Multiple waves of showers and thunderstorms moved across central Kentucky on August 6th and 7th as an exceptionally moist environment promoted the development of precipitation across the region. Precipitable water values approaching 2 inches remained over the area both days, and a lack of significant large-scale forcing kept storm motions fairly slow. As a result, multiple instances of flash flooding were observed…
Flash Flood · Aug 11, 2018. A weak frontal boundary slid south to around the Ohio River Valley by mid-day. As diabatic heating increased and CAPE values reached into the 1500-2000 J/KG range, scattered showers and storms fired through the afternoon and evening. A shortwave rotated into the Great Lakes Region. Deep layer shear was weak and pulse storms with gusty winds caused wind damage. Slow storm motion and boundary collisions allowed for…
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2017. Tropical Storm Cindy made landfall along the Gulf Coast and quickly lifted northeast toward the lower Ohio Valley June 22-23. The remnants interacted with a cold front from the Upper Midwest to produced widespread heavy rainfall. The unseasonably moist air mass led to widespread rainfall amounts of 1-2 inches with an embedded swath of 3-6 inches across central Kentucky. This led to numerous reports of flash floodi…
Flood · Jul 13, 2015. A series of upper level disturbances moved from the Upper Midwest into the lower Ohio Valley and interacted with a moist, warm and unstable atmosphere. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed and then organized into bowing segments across the area, spawning three weak tornadoes in addition to widespread areas of downburst wind damage. Thousands of trees were downed, causing scattered power outages and some struct…
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 Woodford 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.