1 flood insurance claims·$8,023 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 Caribou County, Idaho. 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 1 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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Caribou County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Idaho flood stories →
5 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Drought | May 5, 1977 |
| Heavy Rains & Flooding | Dec 31, 1964 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
11 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 1, 2023 | $1.5M |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2018 | $65,000 |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2017 | $427,000 |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2017 | $42,000 |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2012 | $3,000 |
| Flood | May 1, 2011 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 1, 2023. Extreme snowmelt from heavy snowfall and extreme flows on the Portneuf River caused damage to the Chesterfield Reservoir spillway. The old structure started to deconstruct and makeshift repairs were made to alleviate any significant flooding. Cost to repair the damaged structure were estimated at around 1.5 million dollars.
Flood · Mar 13, 2018. A return to heavy mountain snows in late February and early March added significantly to the snow pack especially in the Upper Snake River Highlands and snow melt and heavy rains occurred sporadically from the middle of the month onward. The worst of the flooding occurred in Clark and Madison which were both declared state disaster areas by the end of the month. Low elevations in the central mountains also beg…
Flood · Jan 9, 2017. A long dawn out atmospheric river event brought a variety of impacts to southeast Idaho including extremely heavy mountain snow, valley snow then rain on snow leading to flooding and roads covered with ice in the Snake River Plain, and many mountain avalanches. Many roads were closed for extended periods due to the heavy snow and avalanches. Custer County was declared a disaster area due to the prodigious snow…
Flood · Feb 4, 2017. A trend toward above normal temperatures in February after extreme snowfall amounts in both December and January led to extensive flooding issues during the entirety of the month. The brunt of the flooding occurred in Cassia, Minidoka, Jefferson, Lincoln and Bingham Counties but all counties did receive at least minor flooding. The floding began February 4th and continued to affect low lying areas until the end…
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 Caribou 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.