17 flood insurance claims·$161,148 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 DeKalb 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 slow-moving thunderstorms and heavy rain dominates the flood risk in DeKalb County, accounting for 19 out of 21 recorded flood events over the last 30 years in the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding occurred during several recent events, including September 2018 and September 2022, when slow storm motions and training thunderstorms produced significant water impacts across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims are concentrated in high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A have accounted for 15 claims with an average payout of $12,993 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risk, as these areas experience the highest frequency of damaging insurance claims compared to minimal activity in Zone X and Zone X Unshaded.
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 4 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 2021, with 4 claims and $58,950 paid.
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.
5 NOAA storm reports from DeKalb County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 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 Winter Storms | Feb 11, 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 | Feb 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 30, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
21 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 24, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 7, 2017 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Dec 28, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 25, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 9, 2009 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 3, 2009 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 30, 2004 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 3, 2022. A large storm system stretching from the mid-Mississippi Valley northward into the Great Lakes region on September 2nd through September 4, 2022, along with an abundant amount of moisture resulted in scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms across middle Tennessee. Due to slow storm motions and training of thunderstorms, heavy rain and areas of flash flooding were the primary threat during this event with i…
Flash Flood · Sep 24, 2018. Widespread showers and thunderstorms developed across Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours on September 24. A few storms became supercells, with one producing a well-defined wall cloud near Walterhill in Rutherford County, and another spawning a brief EF-0 tornado in Cannon County. Heavy rainfall in some areas also led to some flooding in Rutherford and De Kalb Counties.
Flash Flood · Nov 7, 2017. A cold front moved across Middle Tennessee during the day on Monday, November 6, stalling across far northern Alabama in the evening before lifting slowly back northward overnight into Tuesday, November 7. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed north of the front during the afternoon and evening hours and then moved eastward along the I-40 corridor. Additional showers and storms formed across West Tennessee…
Flood · Dec 28, 2015. Strong south to southeasterly gradient winds of 35 to 50 mph just ahead of a line of showers and thunderstorms caused scattered wind damage across Middle Tennessee from late morning into the afternoon on December 28. Measured peak wind gusts included 49 mph at the Columbia Airport AWOS, 44 mph at the Nashville Airport ASOS, 42 mph at the Clarksville Airport ASOS, and 39 mph at the Crossville Airport ASOS.
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 DeKalb 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.