112 flood insurance claims·$2.5M 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 Perry 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 storms dominates the local flood profile, backed by 29 flash flood events and 10 general flood events over the last 30 years, which together resulted in 2 deaths. Recent historical impacts include major multi-day severe weather events in March 2025 and April 2025 that brought training supercells, damaging winds, large hail, and significant flooding across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in high-risk Zone A face the most frequent exposure, accounting for 88 claims with an average payout of $26,495 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Claims also extend into lower-risk or unshaded areas, including Zone X with 8 claims averaging $16,324 and 4 inches of water, and Zone X_UNSHADED with 5 claims averaging $30,248 and 6 inches of water. Additionally, 11 claims with an unknown zone designation averaged $10,927 and an average recorded water depth of 30 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A, as well as those with properties in unmapped or lower-risk zones experiencing severe storm runoff, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Perry County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
93 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 11 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 37 claims and $992,255 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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Perry County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 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 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornado | Mar 1, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 22, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storm And Straight-line Winds | Oct 26, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 5, 2014 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
39 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 17, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 6, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2019 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 17, 2025. A potent storm system brought multiple rounds of thunderstorms and severe weather to Middle Tennessee on March 15, 2025. The main risk for severe weather was associated with a line of thunderstorms that tracks east across Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours. This line produced one EF-1 tornado near Christiana. As this line moved towards the Cumberland Plateau, it strengthened and caused wind da…
Flood · Apr 6, 2025. A major and historic multi-day severe weather event unfolded across Middle Tennessee during early April 2025. This event began during the afternoon hours of April 2nd and continued through April 6th. These first couple rounds of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and large hail along with a tornado risk. The corridor from southwest Middle Tennessee into the Nashville metro area was hit particularly hard with mul…
Flash Flood · Apr 3, 2025. A major and historic multi-day severe weather event unfolded across Middle Tennessee during early April 2025. This event began during the afternoon hours of April 2nd and continued through April 6th. These first couple rounds of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and large hail along with a tornado risk. The corridor from southwest Middle Tennessee into the Nashville metro area was hit particularly hard with mul…
Flood · Apr 3, 2025. A major and historic multi-day severe weather event unfolded across Middle Tennessee during early April 2025. This event began during the afternoon hours of April 2nd and continued through April 6th. These first couple rounds of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and large hail along with a tornado risk. The corridor from southwest Middle Tennessee into the Nashville metro area was hit particularly hard with mul…
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 Perry 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.