1,748 flood insurance claims·$30.1M 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 Hamilton 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 risk profile in Hamilton County, Tennessee. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, the county experienced 59 flash flood events resulting in 2 deaths, alongside 25 standard flood events resulting in 1 death, and 2 tropical storm events.
The destructive potential of these events is illustrated by extreme rainfall in Chattanooga. For example, a heavy rain profile combined with near-record moisture on August 12, 2025, to produce extreme rainfall rates. This caused numerous water rescues, evacuations, flooded interstate and local roads, flooded homes, and fatalities, including an incident in the East Brainerd area where a driver was swept away after bypassing police barricades.
Property owners across multiple FEMA zones should pay close attention to this risk, as claims extend beyond high-risk areas. Zone A leads the county with 1,152 claims averaging a $22,840 payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. However, properties in lower-risk designations also experience significant impacts: Zone X recorded 284 claims with an average $19,975 payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches; Zone X_SHADED recorded 105 claims with an average $21,785 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches; Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 77 claims with an average $11,926 payout and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches; and Zone UNKNOWN recorded 128 claims with an average $5,982 payout and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Hamilton County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,335 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 6 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 2003, with 304 claims and $9.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Hamilton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
25 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, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 8, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornado | Mar 1, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Smith Mountain Fire Complex | Nov 11, 2016 |
| Flippers Bend Fire | Nov 5, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
86 since 1996: 59 flash floods and 25 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2025 | $1.7M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2025 | — · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | May 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2025. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developed across East Tennessee, during the afternoon and evening hours of June 27th. These storms produced mainly scattered wind damage, but also caused some flash flooding in Tennessee.
Flash Flood · Mar 15, 2025. A strong upper trough and low pressure system helped generate a powerful low level jet of winds that led to both high wind reports and wind damage. However, potential energy in the atmosphere was lacking, with severe storms only generating a handful of damage reports and funnel clouds.
Flood · Feb 13, 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.
Flash Flood · Aug 12, 2025. A weak upper low helped advect near record moisture into Tennessee, where a boundary and classic heavy rain profiles combined to produce extreme rainfall rates over portions of Chattanooga, leading to numerous water rescues, a few evacuations, flooded interstate and local roads, flooded homes, and unfortunately a few fatalities. One fatality occurred in the east Brainerd area after a driver went around police barr…
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 Hamilton 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.