Otway Covered Bridge · Photo: Rod Detty · CC BY 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Otway
Otway isn’t graded for hazard risk: Otway has 83 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Otway faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Otway flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Otway. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Otway isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Scioto County.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Otway
Disasters that paid out in Otway itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Village of Otway), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2004Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides2 households applied for aid$5K aid approved
- 2003Severe Winter Storm and Record/near Record Snow37 households applied for aid$20K aid approved
Scioto County has had 15 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Otway after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Otway archive →Get ready for what Otway faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, 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.
- 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.
Questions about natural hazards in Otway
Is Otway in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Scioto County, 10% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Otway?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Otway’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Otway?
By FEMA money that reached Otway, Severe Winter Storm and Record/near Record Snow (2003): 37 households applied for aid, $20K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Otway.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Otway’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.