15 flood insurance claims·$162,547 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 Vinton 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 dominate the hazard profile of Vinton County, Ohio, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 56 flood events and 44 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent patterns are exemplified by events in February 2025 and May 2025, where slow-moving warm fronts, passing low-pressure systems, and repeated rounds of showers and thunderstorms brought sustained rainfall that triggered widespread high water and flooding across the area.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in designated flood zones experience distinct impacts. Zone A properties account for the highest claim frequency with nine payouts averaging $17,019 and an average recorded water depth of 28 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded claims averaging $27,848 and $7,251 respectively, with average recorded water depths of zero and 13 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located near rivers, streams, and designated high-risk flood zones where historical claims and recurring precipitation events demonstrate consistent vulnerability to both rapid flash flooding and sustained river overflow.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 17 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 5 claims and $77,973 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.
83 NOAA storm reports from Vinton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 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 |
| Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, And High Winds | Jul 21, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
100 since 1996: 44 flash floods and 56 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jan 25, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 17, 2025. Several days of active weather took place from July 17th to the 20th across southeast Ohio as a cold front approached from the west and then stalled over the area. The boundary eventually slid north as a warm front on the 19th of July while a disturbance passed across the Great Lakes region and took aim for New England. A secondary cold front encroached from the north and then sank down through the middle Ohio Val…
Flash 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…
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…
Flood · Jun 15, 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…
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 Vinton 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.