85 flood insurance claims·$5.8M paid·6 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 Cocke 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.
River flooding and flash flooding share a nearly equal presence in the historical record, comprising 18 flood events resulting in 2 deaths and 17 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Recent occurrences illustrate these distinct hazards. In June 2025, strong thunderstorms trained along the Great Smoky Mountains, producing flash flooding and a mudslide that impacted Interstate 40 near Hartford. Earlier in April 2025, a cold front dropped moderate to heavy rainfall that caused the Pigeon River at Newport to enter a minor flood stage.
Property owners located in FEMA Flood Zone A should pay the most attention, as this zone accounts for the majority of National Flood Insurance Program claims in the county with 70 claims averaging an $89,110 payout and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Properties in Zone X have experienced 13 claims averaging a $46,488 payout with an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X_SHADED and unknown zones account for minimal claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Cocke County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
71 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 12 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 2024, with 42 claims and $5.3M paid, the year of Tropical Storm Helene.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Cocke County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 6 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 Winter Storm | Dec 22, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 17, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
35 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 18 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 24, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2025 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Feb 12, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 7, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 24, 2025. Severe storms developed over the east Tennessee mountains during the afternoon of June 24th, then pushed northwest, off of the mountains and into the Tennessee valley during the late afternoon and evening hours. Some sporadic wind damage and one instance of flooding occurred.
Flash Flood · Jun 18, 2025. A handful of strong thunderstorms moved north out of Alabama and northern Georgia the afternoon of June 18th, affecting southeast Tennessee and areas in the east Tennessee mountains near the Great Smoky Mountains and Interstate 40. A few thunderstorms trained along the spine of the Smoky Mountains, producing flash flooding and a mudslide that impacted Interstate 40 just east of Hartford. These impacts compounded t…
Flood · Feb 12, 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.
Flood · Apr 7, 2025. A cold front swept through the southern Appalachian region on April 6th, producing several hours of moderate to heavy rainfall in the mountains of east Tennessee and western North Carolina. Runoff from this event resulted in the Pigeon River at Newport going into minor flood stage from late in the evening on April 7th and lasting into the early morning hours on April 8th.
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 Cocke 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.