197 flood insurance claims·$2.0M paid·1 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 Sullivan 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Sullivan County, Tennessee, accounting for 29 out of 50 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 21 general flood events. Recent NOAA storm records illustrate this pattern, including multiple rounds of heavy overnight showers and thunderstorms that caused flash flooding on August 13, 2025, as well as training thunderstorms that produced flash flooding across the area on July 30, 2025.
Federal insurance data demonstrates that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Properties located in FEMA Zone A account for 107 historical claims with an average payout of $16,364 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 55 claims averaging $14,038 with an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X_SHADED properties recorded 8 claims averaging $31,939 with an average water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in high-risk Zone A, where average claim payouts and water depths are highest, while also recognizing that properties in moderate-to-low risk Zone X and shaded Zone X classifications face significant historical claim frequencies and substantial payout averages.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
15% of Sullivan County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
126 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 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 2013, with 29 claims and $541,292 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Sullivan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Tennessee flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 1 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 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 26, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 6, 1998 |
| Severe Snowfall, Winter Storm | Mar 13, 1993 |
| Tornadoes | Apr 4, 1974 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
50 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 24, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2025. Training thunderstorms affected the far northeast Tennessee valley and southwest Virginia on the evening of the 30th, producing some flash flooding across those areas.
Flood · Aug 13, 2025. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms overnight, culminated with some particularly heavy rain on the morning of August 13th in both Knox and Sullivan counties. This resulted in some flash flooding in both areas.
Flash Flood · Aug 13, 2025. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms overnight, culminated with some particularly heavy rain on the morning of August 13th in both Knox and Sullivan counties. This resulted in some flash flooding in both areas.
Flood · Sep 26, 2024. Tropical Storm Helene caps off a several day heavy rainfall event in association with a stalled closed upper low that drew a stream of tropical moisture into the area on the 25th and 26th. The arrival of Helene on the 27th yielded catastrophic flash flooding and river flooding, as well as significant wind damage as wet soils and strong wind gusts led to forest damage.
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 Sullivan 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.