Nelson, KY
Nelson County in Kentucky has 4 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1970–2005, most recently Hurricane Katrina on Sep 10, 2005 (DR-3231). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #2333 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 3 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $140,133 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Nelson County
The 4 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Nelson County, KY (1970–2005). Total declarations on record: 4.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina | DR-3231 |
| Feb 24, 1989 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-821 |
| Dec 12, 1978 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-568 |
| Jun 5, 1970 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-288 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 10 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in Kentucky
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | A | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| Johnson | A | 10 | 22 | 12 |
| Ballard | A | 10 | 1 | 5 |
| Bell | A | 10 | 6 | 10 |
| Calloway | A | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| Graves | A | 10 | 5 | 5 |
More Counties in Kentucky
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Nelson County, KY have?
Nelson County, KY has 4 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1970–2005). The 4 most recent are: Hurricane Katrina (declared Sep 10, 2005, DR-3231); Severe Storms & Flooding (declared Feb 24, 1989, DR-821); Severe Storms & Flooding (declared Dec 12, 1978, DR-568); Severe Storms & Flooding (declared Jun 5, 1970, DR-288). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Nelson County, KY?
Nelson County is graded A (composite score 10/100, low risk). It ranks #2333 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).
How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Nelson County?
3 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Nelson County, KY, totaling $140,133 in payouts. The average claim is $46,711. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Nelson County, KY had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Nelson County was Hurricane Katrina on Sep 10, 2005 (DR-3231). The county has 4 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1970–2005.
For this entity, the underlying data on this page comes from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. The breakdown above is the federal record; the paragraphs below add the per-entity context that makes the headline numbers usable for a real decision rather than just a data lookup.
The methodology behind every numeric value on this page is publicly documented on the FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims portal and described in detail on this site’s methodology page. Refresh cadence varies by underlying series; the page surfaces the as-of date for each number so readers can trace any figure back to the source release.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.