Olive Hill’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Olive Hill comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 167 claims here since 1978. 13 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Olive Hill’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Olive Hill flood? Yes: 167 flood claims since 1978
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Olive Hill, from FEMA’s records.
- The Not a named storm3 claims · $7K
Olive Hill isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Carter County.13 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Olive Hill
Disasters that paid out in Olive Hill itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Olive Hill) and its biggest flood years.
- 2024Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Landslides, and Mudslides18 households applied for aid$72K aid approved
- 2021Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides$53K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
- 2015Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslide254 households applied for aid$505K aid approved$45K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
- 2015Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides11 households applied for aid$13K aid approved
- 2015Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$5K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
- 2011Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding$2K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
Show all 13
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides290 households applied for aid$1.0M aid approved$63K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs50 flood claims paid that year
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Tornadoes381 households applied for aid$1.5M aid approved$239K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
- 2009Severe Winter Storm and Flooding$34K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
- 2004Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Mudslides59 households applied for aid$164K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Flooding, Mud and Rock Slides, and Tornadoes273 households applied for aid$923K aid approved$111K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs63 flood claims paid that year
- 2003Severe Winter Ice and Snow Storms, Heavy Rain, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Mud and292 households applied for aid$515K aid approved$132K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs
- 2002Severe Storms and Flooding$117K to the City of Olive Hill for repairs23 flood claims paid that year
Carter County has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.
Old photos of Olive Hill after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Olive Hill archive →How exposed is Olive Hill?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.
Calmer than 365 of the 553 Kentucky towns we cover.
Olive Hill is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Olive Hill faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Heat waves
Tornadoes
Get ready for what Olive Hill actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Know the nearest cooling center or air-conditioned library.
- Drink water before you feel thirsty.
- Check on neighbors who live alone.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in January–March
The month each of Carter County’s 33 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.
- Compared by rate. “Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Olive Hill’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Olive Hill.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Olive Hill.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.