5 flood insurance claims·$187,291 paid·2 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 Minidoka 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 2 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.
3 NOAA storm reports from Minidoka County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Idaho flood stories →
5 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Feb 5, 2017 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Heavy Rains & Flooding | Dec 31, 1964 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
5 since 1996: 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 25, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jan 8, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Feb 4, 2017 | $6.1M |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2017 | $425,000 |
| Flood | Feb 24, 2009 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 25, 2019. An extended atmospheric river event occurred for an entire week. Extremely heavy snow fell in the mountains with amounts at SNOTEL sites reaching as high as 5 to 8 feet for the week. Many roads closed through the mountains. Schools closed and some sheet flooding began mainly in Bingham and Minidoka counties where temperatures warmed significantly. Avalanches also occurred in the central mountains with the he…
Flood · Jan 8, 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…
Flood · Mar 1, 2017. Lower elevation mountain snowpack continued to melt in March and widespread sheet flooding from the snow melt. Although the severity of the flooding diminished from the onset in January and February, the persistence and flood damage continued in most counties.
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 Minidoka 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.