50 flood insurance claims·$526,622 paid·2 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 Marshall 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 Marshall County. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 32 flash flood events resulting in one death, alongside 8 general flood events. Recent history includes a widespread severe weather event on May 8–9, 2024, which brought major flash flooding to Middle Tennessee. Additionally, persistent moisture along a stalled warm front caused creeks to overfill their banks and resulted in minor flooding and road closures on December 7, 2022, particularly in the Spring Hill area.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones, indicating risk extends beyond high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A accumulated 31 claims with an average water depth of 9 inches and an average payout of $12,046. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 18 claims with an average water depth of 8 inches and an average payout of $15,302, and Zone X Shaded recorded 1 claim with an average water depth of 2 inches and an average payout of $11,231.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A, as well as structures in Zone X where historical claims demonstrate that significant water depths and property damage can still occur during heavy rain events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Marshall County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
32 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 9 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 2002, with 10 claims and $224,669 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms and Tornados.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Marshall County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 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, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 30, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 4, 2003 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
40 since 1996: 32 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2024 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Dec 7, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 12, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 5, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2019 | $209,940 |
— = 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…
Flood · Feb 16, 2023. A storm system and its associated cold front racing across the Great Plains combined with moist southerly flow at the surface resulted in a line of thunderstorms that impacted Middle Tennessee on February 16, 2023. As this line moved into the area that provided abundant wind shear and sufficient instability, they strengthened and quickly turned severe. Several reports of large hail and damaging winds were received…
Flash Flood · Jul 12, 2022. The largest severe weather event of summer 2022 affected much of Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours on July 12, with numerous severe thunderstorms producing large hail and wind damage. Up to softball size hail was reported in the Chapel Hill area of Marshall County, which is the largest hail reported in Middle Tennessee in many years.
Flood · Dec 7, 2022. A stalled warm front and plentiful amounts of atmospheric moisture helped to set the stage for a persistent wet pattern that lasted several days in early December across Middle Tennessee. By December 7, 2022, an estimated 2 to 4 inches over the course of this event had begun to cause creeks to overfill their banks. Minor flooding was reported across areas mainly south of Interstate 40, particularly in the Spring H…
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 Marshall 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.