16 flood insurance claims·$108,239 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 Hawkins 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 and general flooding events, split evenly between 19 flood events and 19 flash flood events with one recorded death over the last 30 years, define the flood risk in Hawkins County. Recent activity includes slow-moving showers and thunderstorms on September 27, 2025, that produced 3 to 5 inches of rainfall and subsequent flooding. Additional flooding occurred on February 15 and 16, 2025, driven by heavy rainfall during a strong synoptic system with warm front passage and severe thunderstorms along a cold front.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that losses occur across multiple zones. Properties in Zone X recorded 10 claims with an average payout of $10,539 and an average recorded water depth of 27 inches. Properties in Zone A recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $11,487 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. One claim was recorded in an unknown zone with $0 payout and 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in both Zone X and Zone A, as both zones have documented historical flood claims and significant recorded water depths.
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 14 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 5 claims and $26,734 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Hawkins County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
17 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 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 26, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 23, 2002 |
| Greeneville Fire Complex-11/03/00 | Oct 30, 2000 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 27, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 24, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2025. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developing during the morning of the 27th across eastern Tennessee, lasting into the early afternoon hours. The slow moving nature of these storms produced some rainfall totals in the 3 to 5 inch range for portions of Hawkins and Sevier counties, leading to some reports of flooding there.
Flood · Sep 27, 2025. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developing during the morning of the 27th across eastern Tennessee, lasting into the early afternoon hours. The slow moving nature of these storms produced some rainfall totals in the 3 to 5 inch range for portions of Hawkins and Sevier counties, leading to some reports of flooding there.
Flash Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
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 Hawkins 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.