297 flood insurance claims·$7.3M paid·5 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 Dyer 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.
Flood risk in Dyer County is characterized predominantly by regular river flooding and flash flooding, driven by over three decades of recorded events that include 19 floods, 17 flash floods, one tropical storm, and one tropical depression.
Recent events illustrate this recurring threat. Heavy rainfall totaling 10 to 15 inches between April 2 and April 5, 2025, caused widespread river flooding and major flooding along the Obion River and the North Fork Forked Deer River. Additionally, strong low-level moisture transport, training storms, and a slow-moving front produced flash flooding on February 15, 2025, and again on April 5, 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in high-risk Zone A have experienced the heaviest impact by far, logging 254 claims with an average payout of $29,669 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Properties in Zone X have recorded 17 claims averaging $37,482 with an average water depth of 6 inches, while minor claims have occurred in unknown and unshaded Zone X designations. Homeowners and real estate agents near rivers and within designated Zone A should pay the most attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Dyer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
267 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 8 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 86 claims and $1.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding 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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Dyer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 5 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 Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Flooding | Apr 26, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 30, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 7, 2025 | $750,000 |
| Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | $1.2M |
| Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 11, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. An upper-level trough crossed the Four Corners region and dipped into northern Mexico on February 14, 2025. In response, deep southwesterly flow set up over the Lower Mississippi Valley and advected Gulf moisture poleward. Showers and thunderstorms blossomed across the region during the early morning hours on February 15, 2025. Meanwhile, a warm front quickly accelerated northward during the morning of February 15…
Flood · Apr 7, 2025. Total rainfall amounts of 10-15 inches occurred across parts of east Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, West Tennessee, and extreme northwest Mississippi during the April 2- April 5 event. This resulted in widespread river flooding for several days following the event including major flooding on the Obion River and the North Fork Forked Deer River.
Flood · Apr 6, 2025. Total rainfall amounts of 10-15 inches occurred across parts of east Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, West Tennessee, and extreme northwest Mississippi during the April 2- April 5 event. This resulted in widespread river flooding for several days following the event including major flooding on the Obion River and the North Fork Forked Deer River.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. The front eventually sagged south back into the Mid-South during the early morning hours of April 5th. Strong low-level moisture transport into the frontal zone resulted in heavy rain and training storms across northern sections of the Mid-South, mainly north of I-40. A bow echo developed along and just south of the slowly advancing front. This feature crossed the entire forecast area producing 13 tornadoes, inclu…
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 Dyer 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.