209 flood insurance claims·$3.8M paid·4 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 Hardin 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 dominates the flood character of Hardin County, accounting for 29 out of 37 total flood events recorded over the last 30 years in the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Historical events illustrate this pattern, including heavy rainfall and flash flooding driven by frontal systems in March 2021 and April 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in designated flood zones experience distinct impacts. Zone A leads the county with 159 claims, averaging a payout of $19,758 with an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 20 claims with a higher average payout of $52,338 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches, and Zone UNKNOWN logged 29 claims with an average payout of $10,222 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded a single claim with a payout of $12,524 and an average recorded water depth of 23 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X should pay the most attention to these risk levels, as both zones have accumulated substantial claims histories.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Hardin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
160 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 10 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 68 claims and $2.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides and Severe Storm and Straight-line Winds.
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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Hardin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 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 | Mar 31, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornado | Mar 1, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storm And Straight-line Winds | Oct 26, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
37 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 30, 2021 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Sep 13, 2020 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 1, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2016 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Mar 31, 2021. A cold front pushed into a moist and unstable airmass resulting in numerous showers and thunderstorms across West Tennesee and North Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 31st. Heavy rainfall resulted in flash flooding while a few severe storms produced damaging winds and a couple of weak tornado across Northeast Mississippi.
Flash Flood · Mar 30, 2021. A cold front pushed into a moist and unstable airmass resulting in numerous showers and thunderstorms across West Tennesee and North Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 31st. Heavy rainfall resulted in flash flooding while a few severe storms produced damaging winds and a couple of weak tornado across Northeast Mississippi.
Flash Flood · Mar 27, 2021. A warm front lifted north across the Mid-South during the morning hours of March 27th. Numerous thunderstorms resulted in heavy rain near the Tennessee/Mississippi line and some flash flooding along with an isolated damaging wind report. The front continued to lift north during the morning along with the complex of showers of thunderstorms. After a brief break during the early afternoon, thunderstorms started to r…
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 Hardin 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.