137 flood insurance claims·$1.8M paid·3 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 Perry 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 heavy downpours and strong thunderstorms dominates the historical flood record in Perry County, Ohio, accounting for 42 of the 63 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 21 general flood events.
Recent weather patterns illustrate this threat. On May 13, a stalled frontal boundary and approaching disturbance brought flash flooding to the area amid hot and humid conditions. Later in the season, on June 28, an oscillating weather pattern involving a cold front and low pressure system produced additional heavy showers and thunderstorms across the region.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties located in FEMA Zone A, which accumulated the highest volume of National Flood Insurance Program claims at 85 claims with an average payout of $16,056 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X also require careful evaluation, having recorded 29 claims with a higher average payout of $28,685 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches, demonstrating that significant flood risks extend outside of designated high-risk zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Perry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
88 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 1998, with 23 claims and $321,469 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes.
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.
44 NOAA storm reports from Perry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslide | May 27, 2019 |
| 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 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 42 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 17, 2024 | $250 |
| Flood | Apr 2, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. On June 28th, a cold front rippled across Ohio and Pennsylvania and then sank into northern West Virginia while high pressure sprawled across the southeastern United States. A low pressure system pushed the front back to the north before pivoting east out of the Great Lakes region and dragging yet another front towards the middle Ohio Valley late in the month. In the midst of this oscillating weather pattern, thun…
Flash Flood · Jul 26, 2025. After a brief stint of drier weather, showers and thunderstorms returned to the area for the end of July as moisture increased ahead of a cold front. ||Beginning on July 25th, most of the activity that developed was confined to portions of southeast Ohio during the day, followed by a lull in precipitation overnight. Scattered showers and storms then sprouted up across the area once again on the 26th, with some of…
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2025. A multi-day period of flooding occurred in southeast Ohio during the middle of the month due to a stalled front across Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia while an upper level disturbance pivoted overhead. Showers and storms began to develop in the moist and unstable environment by the night of June 13th. A lull in precipitation occurred on the morning of the 14th, then activity redeveloped and…
Flash Flood · May 13, 2025. Active weather in the form of flash flooding and strong thunderstorms prevailed over southeast Ohio on May 13th as a result of a nearby frontal boundary. The original front stalled across the Ohio Valley on the 11th, then dissolved over the area while a disturbance slowly approached from the southwest for the next several days. This set the stage for heavy downpours and strong thunderstorms amid the hot and humid…
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 Perry 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.