24 flood insurance claims·$435,695 paid·3 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 Clay 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 severe weather and heavy rainfall dominates the local flood profile, accounting for 21 of the 25 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 4 general flood events.
Recent history illustrates this pattern, including a May 2024 event when heavy rainfall caused several roads to close due to high water in Clay County. An earlier severe weather event on March 28, 2021, was part of an historic flash flooding event affecting the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with Zone X experiencing 12 claims averaging a $27,955 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $29,709 and an average water depth of 4 inches, while Zone A saw 9 claims averaging an $8,378 payout and an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in both designated special flood hazard areas like Zone A and moderate-to-low risk unshaded and standard Zone X areas where historical claims and standing water depths indicate localized vulnerability.
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 2 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 13 claims and $297,350 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes and 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Clay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 3 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, Straight-line Winds, And Tornado | Mar 1, 2023 |
| 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 And Flooding | Aug 17, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 30, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
25 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | $238,640 |
| Flood | Mar 9, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2016 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Jul 3, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2015 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A major severe weather and flooding event unfolded across Middle Tennessee on February 15-16, 2025. As well above average moisture spread into the area, this helped set the stage for very heavy rainfall across Middle Tennessee. Showers and thunderstorms began early during the day on February 15th, and the primary threat with this first round was flooding. The most significant flooding was reported in Montgomery an…
Flash Flood · May 23, 2024. As a line of thunderstorms moved eastward onto the Cumberland Plateau during the evening of May 23, 2024, they strengthened and became severe. The most significant damage was reported in White County where a microburst with estimated winds of 90 mph uprooted numerous trees. Elsewhere, heavy rain in Clay County caused several roads to close due to high water.
Flash Flood · Mar 28, 2021. An historic flash flooding event affected the central third of Middle Tennessee from the early morning hours on March 27 through the day into the early morning hours on March 28. A warm front moved northward into Middle Tennessee early on March 27 before stalling near the I-40 corridor. Between 300-400 AM CDT, numerous showers and thunderstorms developed along the warm front, many of which became severe and produc…
Flood · Mar 9, 2019. A line of scattered showers and thunderstorms moved across Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours on March 9. One supercell thunderstorm produced wind damage across southern Wayne and Lawrence Counties, while another supercell caused wind damage in Grundy County. Farther to the north, a QLCS caused wind damage in Rutherford and Cannon Counties. Strong southerly gradient winds also produced wind da…
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 Clay 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.