203 flood insurance claims·$2.2M paid·2 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 Bradley 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 and river flooding from severe thunderstorms and tropical systems dominate the flood risk in Bradley County, TN, with NOAA records detailing 16 flash flood events and 15 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include severe weather in March 2021 that produced flash flooding from stalled frontal thunderstorms, as well as remnants from Tropical Cyclone Ida in August 2021 that dropped heavy rainfall across the southern portion of the region.
Federal insurance data reflects significant risk outside of primary high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A accumulated 101 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average payout of $12,762 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Meanwhile, properties designated as Zone X accounted for 68 claims with an average payout of $16,570 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Additional claims occurred in shaded and unshaded Zone X designations, showing that property owners outside traditional flood zones also experience inundation.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated in both FEMA Zone A and Zone X, given that substantial claim volumes and average water depths exceeding half a foot occur in both designations.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Bradley County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
128 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 8 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 2003, with 34 claims and $379,033 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from Bradley County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And | Feb 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 4, 2003 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Apr 16, 1998 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
32 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 15, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 13, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Dec 25, 2015 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Dec 25, 2015 | $2,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 27, 2024. An upper trough, a shortwave, and a cold front combined in a potent environment to produce several rounds of severe thunderstorms in East Tennessee, producing large hail, damaging wind gusts, and some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Aug 30, 2021. As Tropical Cyclone Ida moved northward from the Gulf Coast into central Mississippi, her convective bands produced locally heavy rainfall over the far southern portions of the east Tennessee.
Flash Flood · Mar 28, 2021. Thunderstorms with large hail spread northward across East Tennessee during the early morning hours of March 27, reaching southwest Virginia by late morning. These storms were associated with a warm front, which later stalled across northeast Tennessee. This stalled front was the focus of additional thunderstorms that produced damaging wind gusts and flooding in the evening of March 27 and into March 28.
Flash Flood · Aug 15, 2021. Thunderstorm wind gusts resulted in damage to a home in Powell. Motorists were rescued from a stalled vehicle near Cleveland.
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 Bradley 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.