31 flood insurance claims·$613,661 paid
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 Carroll 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 severe thunderstorms and slow-moving weather systems dominates the flood risk profile in Carroll County, Ohio, accounting for 42 of the 61 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 19 general flood events.
Recent history demonstrates this vulnerability. On August 12, 2023, scattered thunderstorms and supercells developed ahead of a cold front, producing flash flooding. Later, widespread flash flooding occurred from April 2nd to April 3rd, 2024, driven by converging moisture and slow-moving weather systems that dropped 4 to 5.5 inches of rain across the region over a four-day span. An additional flash flood event occurred on June 5, 2025, when slow-moving thunderstorms developed along a slow-moving cold front.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within FEMA Flood Zone A. NFIP records show Zone A accounts for the vast majority of claims in the county with 23 claims, averaging a payout of $26,680 and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Properties in Zone X and unknown zones have seen fewer claims, with 4 claims each averaging payouts of $30,989 and $4,594 respectively, and both recording an average water depth of 0 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Carroll County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
23 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 14 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 20 claims and $592,806 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Winter Storms, 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Carroll County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
11 federal disaster declarations since 1977.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Wind Storm Associated With Tropical Depression Ike | Sep 14, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Dec 22, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 18, 2004 |
| Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, And High Winds | Jul 21, 2003 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 26, 1978 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
61 since 1996: 42 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 5, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2023 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2015 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 5, 2025. Slow moving thunderstorms developing along a slow moving cold front produced flash flooding in Muskingum and Carroll counties in Ohio on the 5th.
Flash Flood · Apr 2, 2024. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms prompted a widespread flash flood problems across the Ohio River Valley on April 2nd to April 3rd. The synoptic pattern across the CONUS was a slow moving and deep elongated trough over the Great Plains phasing with a ejecting trough over the Midwest that created an area of converging moisture over eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Overall, over a span of 4 days, fo…
Flash Flood · Aug 12, 2023. A mid-level shortwave trough moved across the northern Great Lakes with a belt of stronger flow moving through the southern Great Lakes. Scattered thunderstorms|developed through midday into the afternoon. Forecast soundings showed some low-level hodograph curvature. Supercells evolved ahead of the cold front and create a large hail and tornado threat.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2019. Scattered thunderstorms formed in an unstable air mass on the 28th. While storms overall were not as strong as those further to the east in Pennsylvania, one instance of flash flooding on Route 39 was reported in Carroll County.||A lull in activity occurred during the night and into the following morning. Later in the day, renewed instability, plus residual outflow boundaries from previous convection, helped to…
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 Carroll 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.