1 flood insurance claims·$0 paid·5 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 Scott 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 dominates the local flood profile in Scott County, Tennessee, accounting for 25 out of 39 recorded flood events over the past 30 years, with general flooding making up the remaining 14 events. Heavy rainfall events are capable of causing significant localized inundation across the area.
Recent occurrences illustrate these risks. For example, a strong synoptic system brought heavy rainfall during a warm front passage followed by additional rainfall from severe thunderstorms along a cold front on February 15, 2025. This weather pattern repeated, leading to further reported flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee on February 16, 2025, alongside wind advisory conditions and localized wind damage.
Properties situated within designated special flood hazard areas require careful attention. NFIP claims data for Scott County specifically records historical activity in Zone A, which accounts for 1 claim with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should focus their attention on properties within Zone A and other low-lying areas susceptible to rapid accumulation from heavy precipitation events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10 NOAA storm reports from Scott County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 5 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, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 25, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
39 since 1996: 25 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 9, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 17, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 16, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 16, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. A strong synoptic system with heavy rainfall during warm front passage followed by additional rainfall during the severe thunderstorms along the cold front led to reports of flooding in northern portions of East Tennessee. Additionally, strong winds powered by strong winds aloft mixed to the surface, bringing wind advisory conditions to the whole area, a few high wind reports, and some wind damage.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2024. Upper level troughing provided another mesoscale convective system to form and propagate through East Tennessee, bringing scattered reports of damaging winds to the area, and localized flash flooding to the northern Plateau.
Flash Flood · May 9, 2024. A cutoff low over the North Plains, coupled with intense winds aloft and a cold front at the surface, helped spawn multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms that produced hail, flash flooding, and damaging winds to East Tennessee.
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 Scott 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.