149 flood insurance claims·$1.8M paid·5 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 Brown County, Ohio. 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 profile of Brown County, Ohio, backed by 58 flash flood events resulting in 4 deaths and 53 general flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Recent impacts are exemplified by heavy rainfall and thunderstorms from a trailing cold front associated with a Great Lakes low-pressure system, which caused multiple flood and flash flood events on July 20, 2025.
Historical National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within FEMA Zone A have experienced the highest concentration of vulnerability with 88 claims, an average payout of $19,147, and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Properties in Zone X_SHADED also face significant water accumulation during events, recording an average depth of 16 inches across 13 claims with an average payout of $17,671. Zone X properties recorded 14 claims with an average payout of $15,847 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 34 claims with an average payout of $6,233 and an average water depth of 5 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within FEMA Zone A, where the highest frequency of flood insurance claims has occurred, as well as properties in shaded Zone X areas where recorded water depths during flooding have averaged 16 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Brown County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
101 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 7 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 94 claims and $1.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Brown County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | Feb 5, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 4, 2011 |
| Severe Wind Storm Associated With Tropical Depression Ike | Sep 14, 2008 |
| Record Snow And Near Record Snow | Mar 7, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Dec 22, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
111 since 1996: 58 flash floods and 53 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 18, 2023 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 29, 2025. Thunderstorms affected the region during the afternoon hours as a low pressure system moved east across the Ohio Valley.
Flash Flood · Jul 20, 2025. A low pressure system moving through the Great Lakes region trailed a cold front that sagged south through the Ohio Valley. Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of this boundary, some of which produced damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
Flood · Jul 20, 2025. A low pressure system moving through the Great Lakes region trailed a cold front that sagged south through the Ohio Valley. Showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of this boundary, some of which produced damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
Flood · Apr 11, 2024. A low pressure system moving through the Ohio River Valley resulted in occasional showers and thunderstorms.
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 Brown 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.