173 flood insurance claims·$3.4M paid·1 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 Madison 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 Madison County, Tennessee, accounting for 67 of the last 30 years of recorded flood events, alongside 16 general floods resulting in 2 deaths and 1 tropical storm event. Recent activity includes a multi-hazard storm event in April 2025 that brought record flooding, as well as an active storm pattern driven by high precipitable water values and training storms in May 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A have accounted for 99 claims with an average payout of $26,123 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have recorded 49 claims averaging $21,367 with an average water depth of 4 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED properties have seen 10 claims averaging $29,637 with an average water depth of 4 inches. An additional 15 claims with unknown zones averaged $5,445 with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated in Zone A, while recognizing that structures in Zone X and unshaded areas also face verified flood risks and claim histories.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9% of Madison County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
109 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 4 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 2010, with 52 claims and $1.6M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes.
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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Madison County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 1 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 Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 25, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 5, 2014 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Mar 2, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
84 since 1996: 67 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 4, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2021 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 3, 2025. A significant multi-hazard, multi-day event occurred across the Mid-South from April 2, 2025, to April 8, 2025, producing 35 tornadoes, record flooding, and numerous reports of damaging winds and large hail. A large upper-level trough covered the Western U.S. in early April. A significant piece of energy rotated around the base of the trough and ejected into the Southern Plains and the Middle-Upper Mississippi Va…
Flash Flood · May 24, 2024. An active storm pattern as several mid-level shortwaves crossed the region. An MCV lifted east northeast out of the Ozarks across southern Arkansas. The MCV fired up morning convection across the Mid-South with isolated storm coverage in the afternoon. A weak capped environment was broken and steep mid-level lapse rates, roughly 30 knots of shear, and plentiful instability allowed storms to flourish to the south.…
Flash Flood · Jul 8, 2023. A weak cold front extended from West Tennessee into central Arkansas during the afternoon hours on July 8, 2023. This front was moving slowly south. This feature combined with strong instability and deep moisture resulted in numerous showers and thunderstorms across the Mid-South. Isolated wind damage and flash flooding occurred.
Flash Flood · Aug 4, 2023. A stationary front was situated from southeast Missouri into northwest Tennessee during the early morning hours of August 4, 2023. An extremely unstable airmass was situated along and south of the front with surface-based convective available potential energy values of up to 7000 J/kg. Precipitable water values reached an anomalous 2.3 inches along the boundary. Thunderstorms developed across southeast Missouri an…
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 Madison 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.