3 flood insurance claims·$35,750 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 Grundy 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 severe weather events dominates the flood history of Grundy County. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, the county experienced 20 flash flood events compared to 3 standard flood events.
Recent history illustrates this pattern. A widespread severe weather event brought major flash flooding to the area between May 8 and May 9, 2024, amid rounds of heavy storms across Middle Tennessee. Earlier, heavy rainfall from showers and thunderstorms caused flash flooding during a prolonged regional weather system that persisted from February 19 through February 24, 2019, following heavy rain earlier that month. Another incident of heavy rainfall resulted in flash flooding on March 9, 2019, alongside localized wind damage.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate minimal historical claims activity, with two claims recorded in high-risk Zone A resulting in an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, and one claim in moderate-to-low risk Zone X resulting in an average payout of $35,750 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Property owners in both high-risk Zone A and moderate-to-low risk Zone X should pay close attention to local drainage and intense rainfall potential.
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 2019, with 1 claims and $35,750 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Grundy County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 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 Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 16, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 4, 2003 |
| Tn - Chattanooga Fire Complex - 11/03/01 | Nov 3, 2001 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
23 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2024 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 24, 2020 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 20, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 9, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Dec 28, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 1, 2018 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 8, 2024. A widespread severe weather event impacted Middle Tennessee beginning in the early morning hours of May 8, 2024, and continued through the early morning hours of May 9th. During this time frame, numerous rounds of severe weather moved through the area, causing widespread wind damage in nearly every county in Middle Tennessee, hail up to 3 inches in diameter, and four tornadoes. One of these tornadoes in Columbia p…
Flash Flood · Mar 24, 2020. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developed across Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours of March 24, including one supercell thunderstorm that tracked through Wayne and Lawrence Counties. Although no severe weather was reported, several incidents of flash flooding occurred.
Flash Flood · Feb 23, 2019. A stationary frontal boundary stalled near the Tennessee Valley for nearly a week in mid to late February 2019. Persistent southwest flow aloft brought copious amounts of Gulf of Mexico moisture northward and interacted with this boundary for many days, causing a prolonged period of heavy rain and flooding throughout Middle Tennessee from Tuesday, February 19 through early Sunday, February 24. Due to the heavy rai…
Flash Flood · Feb 20, 2019. After an already very wet month, additional heavy rainfall and thunderstorms moved into Middle Tennessee from Tuesday February 19 into Wednesday February 20. With the airmass being initially cold and dry, the rainfall briefly fell as a mix of rain and sleet across southern Middle Tennessee, although no measurable sleet accumulation was reported. Considerable cloud to ground positive lightning also occurred, which…
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 Grundy 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.