40 flood insurance claims·$350,922 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 McMinn 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 riverine flooding dominate the flood profile of McMinn County, with NOAA records documenting 27 flash flood events, 16 flood events, and 1 tropical storm over the last 30 years.
Recent weather patterns have driven significant water accumulation across the area. For example, an anomalous weather pattern brought repeat thunderstorms and training cells that caused significant flash flooding on August 14, 2023. Earlier, a stalled cold front dropped 5 to 6 inches of heavy rainfall across the area on February 5, 2020.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims spanning multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 31 claims with an average payout of $11,435 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Unshaded Zone X properties recorded 6 claims with an average payout of $12,175 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Additional claims occurred in unknown zones, Zone X, and shaded Zone X. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and unshaded Zone X should pay the closest attention to flood risks given the concentration of historical claims and average water depths in these areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
18% of McMinn County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
38 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 2 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 1994, with 16 claims and $78,012 paid, the year of Severe Winter Ice Storm,flash Flooding and Extensive Rainfall and Flash 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from McMinn County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
16 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 Winter Storm And Flooding | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And | Feb 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 10, 2009 |
| 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.
44 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 13, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Feb 5, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 31, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 26, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 14, 2023. A highly anomalous weather pattern involving a closed low and a trailing cold front brought discrete thunderstorms and multicell clusters in multiple rounds to east Tennessee. Repeat events as well as training of cells resulted in flash flooding, some of it significant.
Flash Flood · Apr 13, 2020. A prolonged convective event with deep moist southerly flow in an unstable environment with strong wind shear generated supercell thunderstorms across Southeast Tennessee and Southwest North Carolina. The lengthy period of heavy rain resulted in widespread three to four inch rainfall totals across East Tennessee, Southwest North Carolina, and Southwest Virginia.
Flood · Feb 5, 2020. A cold front extending from the Texas coast to the southern Appalachians experienced little movement as low pressure systems moved northeastward along the boundary. This resulted in heavy rainfall of 5 to 6 inches across most of area.
Flash Flood · Jul 13, 2019. Tropical Storm Barry over coastal Louisiana sent tropical moisture northward into the Tennessee Valley. Some afternoon diurnal convection proved to be efficient rain producers.
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 McMinn 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.