90 flood insurance claims·$527,423 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 Harrison 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 heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk in Harrison County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 41 flash flood events resulting in 2 deaths, alongside 13 general flood events. Recent activity includes widespread flash flooding from severe storms in April 2024, when four to five and a half inches of rain fell over several days due to converging moisture over eastern Ohio. Heavy rain and flash flooding were also recorded during thunderstorms in July 2025.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage has occurred across multiple zones. Claims with an unknown zone designation account for 44 filings with an average payout of $4,133 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. High-risk Zone A properties recorded 37 claims with an average payout of $10,574 and an average recorded water depth of 30 inches. Zone X properties recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $9,828 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone X shaded and unshaded areas recorded minimal claims with average payouts under $9,000 and average water depths of 2 to 3 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in high-risk Zone A, as well as those with unmapped or unknown flood zones, should pay the most attention to this risk given the frequency of flash flooding and the depth of water recorded in past claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Harrison County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
39 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 12 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 30 claims and $227,681 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides, 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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Harrison County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 41 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Aug 18, 2021 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 20, 2020 | $100,000 · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2019 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jul 7, 2019 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2025. A shortwave trough supported a swath of heavy rain along a PWAT gradient with values as high as 1.9 inches across far southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. 500-1000 J/kg of MUCAPE and 20 knots of cloud bearing flow supported thunderstorms producing heavy rain and flash flooding.
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…
Flood · Feb 17, 2022. A slow moving low pressure system brought unseasonable heavy rainfall to portions of our county warning area; 1.50 to 2 inches of rainfall was noted in eastern Ohio in 24 hours.
Flood · Aug 18, 2021. Remnants of Tropical Storm Fred brought flooding to portions of the region due to training rain bands.
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 Harrison 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.