152 flood insurance claims·$6.1M 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 Washington 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, accounting for 29 recorded events and 4 deaths over the past 30 years, alongside 16 general flood events resulting in 1 death. Slow-moving showers and thunderstorms frequently produce heavy rains and notable flooding, such as the event recorded in August 2025 near the I-26 corridor between Kingsport and Johnson City.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Properties located in Zone A account for 85 claims with an average payout of $66,064 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 50 claims with an average payout of $30,734 and an average water depth of 22 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 10 claims averaging $14,422 with a 3-inch average water depth, and Zone X_SHADED logged 7 claims averaging $10,028 with a 3-inch average water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated in Zone A due to the high volume and cost of claims, as well as properties in Zone X where significant average water depths have been documented despite lower overall claim frequencies.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
17% of Washington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
102 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 12 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 2012, with 31 claims and $1.6M 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Washington 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 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 26, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 22, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 25, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 27, 2001 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Aug 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $39.0M · 4 killed |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2023 | — |
— = 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 23, 2025. Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd. The slow moving nature of these storms resulted in heavy rains and notable flooding near the I-26 corridor between Kingsport and Johnson City.
Flash Flood · Jul 12, 2025. Diurnal showers and thunderstorms yielded a briefly severe storm in Campbell County.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2025. An upper level shortwave combined with an extremely humid atmosphere generated several thunderstorms that produced heavy rainfall yielding a few flash floods along with an isolated severe storm in 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 Washington 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.