30 flood insurance claims·$479,759 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 Claiborne 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 shapes the primary flood risk in Claiborne County. Over a 30-year period, NOAA records show 18 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 14 general flood events. Recent activity illustrates this pattern: a strong synoptic system brought heavy rainfall, warm front passages, and severe thunderstorms that caused flooding across northern portions of East Tennessee in February 2025. During the same month, widespread rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches led to river flooding that reached moderate to major stages.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims occur across multiple zones. Zone A leads with 18 claims, averaging a $20,706 payout and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Zone X accounts for 7 claims, with an average payout of $26,088 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, while an unknown zone includes 5 claims averaging a $9,321 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, as well as homes situated near rivers and low-lying areas vulnerable to rapid runoff from heavy frontal systems and severe storms.
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 3 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 2011, with 12 claims and $204,991 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And.
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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Claiborne County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
21 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, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 25, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 5, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And | Feb 29, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
32 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 9, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flood · Feb 13, 2025. Heavy rains, categorized by widespread 2 to 3 inch rainfall totals, affected the Morristown forecast area and broader southern Appalachian region on February 11th and 12th. This lead to flooding along some rivers in east Tennessee between February 12th and 14th, during which time some locations reached moderate to major flood stages.
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 Claiborne 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.