120 flood insurance claims·$657,019 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 Holmes 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 Holmes County, accounting for 29 out of 43 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 14 general flood events. Localized flooding and heavy rainfall have been driven by slow-moving convective storms, such as a severe weather system in June 2018 where a north-to-south oriented line of storms produced heavy rainfall and flooding across the county. Another significant event occurred in May 2021, when a surface area of low pressure tracked across northern Ohio, bringing widespread light to moderate rain that totaled 2 to 3 inches.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in FEMA Zone A have experienced the highest impact among categorized zones, logging 50 claims with an average payout of $12,687 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $15,510 and an average water depth of 8 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 67 claims with an average payout of $1,943 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents near designated special flood hazard areas, particularly Zone A, should pay the closest attention to flood risk and mitigation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Holmes County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
50 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 5 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 1979, with 49 claims and $64,215 paid.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Holmes County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1969.
| 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 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 24, 1998 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 26, 1978 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
43 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flood | May 9, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2018 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2018 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 24, 2014 | $800,000 |
| Flood | Feb 28, 2011 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Aug 21, 2007 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2025. During the evening of June 24th, a front wavered in a north-south manner in vicinity of Lake Erie while separating a very warm and humid air mass to the south from a somewhat cooler and less humid air mass to the north. Along and near the front, scattered multicell showers and thunderstorms persisted generally eastward across northern Ohio amidst moderate effective bulk shear and primarily moderate to strong MUCAP…
Flood · May 9, 2021. A surface area of low pressure tracked from the high plains crossing northern Ohio on Sunday May 9th. Widespread light to moderate rain developed Sunday morning and was ongoing through much of the day. Temperatures were in the upper 30s to low 40s, and some snowflakes mixed in midday. As the system moved east, rain turned to snow in the primary snowbelt with reports up to 2��� in northwest Pennsylvania and G…
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2020. Low-level convergence along an eastward-moving surface trough axis contributed to the development of scattered thunderstorms over northern Ohio during the afternoon and early evening of the 21st. Vertical wind shear was weak. However, moderate instability and DCAPE amidst steep low-level lapse rates near 7.5C/km to 9.5C/km allowed multiple thunderstorms to generate damaging straight-line winds. There were also sev…
Flash Flood · May 26, 2018. Diurnal convection was being supported by the passage of an upper level shortwave on the evening of May 26th. The environment was favorable for heavy rain with high moisture content in the airmass. Flooding occurred over portions of Holmes County Ohio as storms merged and stalled over the central part of the county while producing torrential rainfall rates.
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 Holmes 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.