17 flood insurance claims·$815,774 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 McNairy 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 heavy thunderstorms dominates the flood character of McNairy County, which recorded 23 flash flood events, 4 general flood events with 1 death, and 1 tropical storm over the last 30 years. NOAA storm records document significant heavy rain events, including slow-moving thunderstorms that dropped more than 8 inches of rain on July 1, 2020, and a warm front that triggered heavy rain and flash flooding near the Tennessee/Mississippi line on March 27, 2021.
Federal flood insurance claims data shows that high-risk areas bear the heaviest financial impact. Zone A properties account for 11 claims with an average payout of $87,517 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Meanwhile, lower-risk or unshaded areas experience occasional severe inundation, as evidenced by a single claim in Zone X_UNSHADED with an average recorded water depth of 25 inches and an average payout of $9,579, alongside 3 claims in Zone X averaging $6,113 with an average water depth of 9 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in FEMA Zone A, as well as those in unshaded or moderate-risk Zone X areas prone to deep localized water accumulation, should pay the closest attention to flood risks and insurance coverage.
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 6 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 2020, with 4 claims and $695,669 paid.
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 McNairy County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 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, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Mar 31, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 25, 2021 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 5, 2014 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2020 | $2.0M |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2015 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2015 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2014 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Jul 1, 2020. Slow-moving thunderstorms developed along an outflow boundary across West Tennessee, near the Tennessee River, and Northeast Mississippi during the early morning hours on July 1, 2020. Some locations picked up more than 8 inches of rain. Meanwhile, a mesoscale convective system that developed over Southeast Nebraska and Northwest Missouri earlier in the day raced southeast and moved through the Mid-South during th…
Flood · Mar 1, 2018. Persistent moderate to heavy rain fell over already well saturated soils and caused additional flooding over parts of southwest Tennessee during the morning hours of March 1st.
Flash Flood · Mar 31, 2015. An upper level disturbance moved across the Mid-South during the afternoon and evening hours of March 31, 2015. The disturbance interacted with an unstable airmass and produced scattered to numerous thunderstorms across the Mid-South. A few severe storms produced large hail in West Tennessee while locally heavy rain produced a few areas of flash flooding as well.
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 McNairy 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.