36 flood insurance claims·$394,716 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 Scott County, Virginia. 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 precipitation events dominates the flood risk profile in Scott County, Virginia. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 27 flash flood events resulting in 2 deaths, alongside 10 general flood events. Recent activity includes heavy rainfall from a strong synoptic system in February 2025, which brought flooding and strong winds from warm front passages and cold front thunderstorms. Additionally, training thunderstorms produced localized flash flooding across southwest Virginia in July 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims occur across multiple zones, with Zone A accounting for 14 claims averaging $16,443 with an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Zone X accounts for 9 claims averaging $13,859 with an average water depth of 9 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED records 6 claims averaging $16,867 with an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN records 7 claims averaging $1,090 with an average water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in designated Zone A, Zone X, and unshaded Zone X areas should pay the closest attention to this flood risk, as these zones record the highest claim frequencies and average payout amounts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
30% of Scott County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
20 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 8 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 2002, with 9 claims and $148,351 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding.
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.
6 NOAA storm reports from Scott County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Virginia flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Feb 10, 2025 |
| Post-tropical Cyclone Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | Sep 25, 2024 |
| Hurricane Florence | Sep 13, 2018 |
| Hurricane Sandy | Oct 26, 2012 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Dec 18, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
37 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Feb 10, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2017 | $1,000 |
— = 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 · 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.
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.
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.