19 flood insurance claims·$510,825 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 Benton County, Tennessee. 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 driven by heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Benton County, Tennessee. Over a thirty-year period recorded in the NOAA Storm Events Database, the county experienced 48 flash flood events compared to 4 general flood events. Recent activity includes heavy rain and training storms that produced flash flooding on April 5, 2025, as well as significant storm systems driven by Gulf moisture advection that caused flash flooding on February 15, 2025, and March 15, 2025.
Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims are heavily concentrated in designated hazard areas. Zone A properties account for the majority of claims with 13 filings, averaging $57,363 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Properties in Zone X accounted for 4 claims with an average payout of $16,666 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. An additional 2 claims were filed under an unknown zone, averaging $1,919 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within high-risk Zone A, where historical claims and average payout amounts are significantly higher than in other zones.
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 1 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 2010, with 8 claims and $291,341 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Benton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1971.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornado | Mar 1, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storm And Straight-line Winds | Oct 26, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
52 since 1996: 48 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2020 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 16, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 6, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 15, 2025. An upper low over the Central Plains moved into the Upper Mississippi Valley during the evening hours of Friday, March 14, 2025. Increasing moisture advection ahead of an approaching cold front lifted dewpoints into the low to mid 60s. This coupled with increasing height falls and a mid-level 80 knot jet rotating around the main upper low supported severe thunderstorm development. Large looping hodographs, MLCAPE…
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. An upper-level trough crossed the Four Corners region and dipped into northern Mexico on February 14, 2025. In response, deep southwesterly flow set up over the Lower Mississippi Valley and advected Gulf moisture poleward. Showers and thunderstorms blossomed across the region during the early morning hours on February 15, 2025. Meanwhile, a warm front quickly accelerated northward during the morning of February 15…
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. The front eventually sagged south back into the Mid-South during the early morning hours of April 5th. Strong low-level moisture transport into the frontal zone resulted in heavy rain and training storms across northern sections of the Mid-South, mainly north of I-40. A bow echo developed along and just south of the slowly advancing front. This feature crossed the entire forecast area producing 13 tornadoes, inclu…
Flash Flood · May 22, 2024. A decaying MCS/MCV moved through the Mid-South during the overnight/early morning hours of May 22. A slow moving cold front was stretched over the Missouri Bootheel and moisture surged northward allowing for plentiful instability. This instability collided with remnant outflow boundaries from previous convection. Peak diurnal heating hours, moisture, and enough lift caused damaging winds, large hail, and flash flo…
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 Benton 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.