467 flood insurance claims·$4.7M 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 Lawrence 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.
River flooding and flash flooding from multi-day rain events dominate Lawrence County, Ohio, backed by 61 recorded flood events resulting in two deaths and 44 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include severe flooding and flash flooding in February 2025, driven by light precipitation arriving on the 14th followed by substantial overnight rain, warm front activity, and a passing low-pressure system that sustained moderate to heavy rainfall across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in high-risk Zone A face the highest frequency of vulnerability, accounting for 237 claims with an average payout of $13,262 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Residents in Zone X also experience substantial risk, logging 119 claims with an average payout of $15,486 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, while properties in Zone X_SHADED recorded the deepest average water depth at 19 inches across 12 claims. Homeowners located within designated Special Flood Hazard Areas, as well as those in moderate-to-low risk zones with a history of standing water, should pay the closest attention to these recurring flood hazards.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Lawrence County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
263 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 9 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 100 claims and $1.7M 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.
78 NOAA storm reports from Lawrence County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1978, 4 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 Straight-line Winds | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 4, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Record/near Record Snow | Feb 14, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
105 since 1996: 44 flash floods and 61 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 8, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 30, 2025. A warm front lifted into the area on the night of May 29th and remained present overhead until being ushered east by a low the evening of the 30th. Behind this system, a cold front approached from the north and slowly descended southward through the Ohio Valley on the 31st.||Rounds of rain moved across the area on the 30th, with some additional showers lingering overnight. Around an inch of rain fell across southe…
Flash Flood · Sep 25, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms spread across parts of southeast Ohio as a cold front approached from the northwest on September 24th. Following a brief lull in the evening, activity redeveloped as the front approached the Ohio River late that night and then continued east across West Virginia on the 25th. Although the front exited the area by the evening of the 25th, scattered showers continued into the night due to an…
Flood · Feb 17, 2025. Light precipitation started to arrive the evening of the 14th, then more substantial rain spread across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia. This precipit…
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Light precipitation started to arrive the evening of the 14th, then more substantial rain spread across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia. This precipit…
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 Lawrence 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.