91 flood insurance claims·$746,386 paid·4 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 Kootenai 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.
Riverine flooding dominates Kootenai County, supported by NOAA Storm Events Database records showing 51 standard flood events compared to only 5 flash flood events over the last 30 years. These floods are frequently driven by atmospheric rivers bringing heavy rainfall combined with seasonal snow melt, as occurred during events in February 2025 and March 2022. Additional precipitation on already saturated streams, such as the slow-moving showers in June 2022, has also caused problems for low-lying areas.
Federal Emergency Management Agency claim data indicates that properties in designated high-risk areas bear a substantial portion of the impact. Zone A accounts for 52 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average payout of $12,430 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Meanwhile, moderate-to-low risk zones also experience losses; Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 20 claims averaging $14,814 and an average water depth of 3 inches, Zone X recorded 13 claims averaging $15,575 with an average water depth of 1 inch, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 1 claim averaging $20,475 with an average water depth of 7 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and near rivers, streams, and low-lying areas subject to overflow from combined rainfall and snow melt.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
29% of Kootenai County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
73 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 7 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 1997, with 22 claims and $234,281 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Snowmelt, Land/mud Slides, 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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Kootenai County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Idaho flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Straight-line Winds | Jan 13, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 6, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 16, 2015 |
| Severe Storm And Straight-line Wind | Nov 17, 2015 |
| Cape Horn Fire | Jul 5, 2015 |
| Flooding | May 15, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Snowmelt, Land/mud Slides, Flooding | Mar 14, 1997 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
56 since 1996: 5 flash floods and 51 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2023 | $500 |
| Flood | Jun 12, 2022 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Mar 2, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 18, 2017 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2017 | $200,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Feb 12, 2014 | $160,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 23, 2025. A strong atmospheric river moved through the region on February 23-25. Many locations across the Lower Idaho Panhandle received rain amounts 1 to 2 inches over the period. The rain combined with snow melt in the area leading to several reports of flooding around Worley, Moscow, and Plummer areas. The Palouse River near Potlatch crested at 17.22 feet. The Paradise Creek in Moscow crested at 11.21 feet.
Flash Flood · May 27, 2023. A slow moving thunderstorm brought heavy rain to portions of Coeur D'Alene.
Flood · Jun 12, 2022. Another trough system brought a round of slow moving stratiform slow moving showers. With the abundant amount of precipitation from earlier in the month, the streams and creeks were already near bank full. The additional 1 inch of precipitation starting to create problems for low lying areas in the Southeast WA and Lower ID Panhandle.
Flood · Mar 2, 2022. The arrival of an atmospheric River, in late February and early March, brought heavy rainfall to the Pacific Northwest. The heaviest precipitation was late February 28th through March 1st. The temperatures associated with this event were warm enough to produce rain (rather than snow), but this also led to snow melt. In the central Idaho Panhandle, this produced strong responses to the rivers of affected areas in t…
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 Kootenai 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.