288 flood insurance claims·$5.2M 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 Carter 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 from heavy rainfall events dominates the flood risk in Carter County, TN, accounting for 31 of the 43 total recorded flood events and 7 deaths over the last 30 years.
Recent history underscores this hazard. On September 27, 2024, Tropical Storm Helene capped off a multi-day heavy rainfall event driven by a stalled upper low, producing catastrophic flash flooding, river flooding, and wind damage. Earlier, on August 10, 2022, slow-moving thunderstorms driven by weak steering currents produced locally heavy rain and flash flooding.
Properties situated in FEMA Flood Zone A face the highest concentration of risk, accounting for 245 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average payout of $25,085 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. However, homeowners outside designated high-risk areas should also pay attention; properties in Zone X recorded 25 claims with an average payout of $21,095 and an average water depth of 5 inches, while Zone X shaded properties recorded 11 claims with an average payout of $5,030 and an average water depth of 11 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Carter County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
256 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 7 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 96 claims and $857,944 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Carter County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 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 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 26, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 16, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 14, 2003 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 27, 2001 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
43 since 1996: 31 flash floods and 12 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $62.5M |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 15, 2022 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 20, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 13, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Storm Helene caps off a several day heavy rainfall event in association with a stalled closed upper low that drew a stream of tropical moisture into the area on the 25th and 26th. The arrival of Helene on the 27th yielded catastrophic flash flooding and river flooding, as well as significant wind damage as wet soils and strong wind gusts led to forest damage.
Flash Flood · Aug 15, 2022. An unusual August cold front generated widespread rainfall in southwest Virginia and extreme northeast Tennessee.
Flash Flood · Aug 10, 2022. High pressure over the area led to weak steering currents. Slow moving thunderstorms produced locally heavy rain.
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.
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 Carter 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.