8 flood insurance claims·$56,314 paid·5 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 Appanoose County, Iowa. 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.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Appanoose County, backed by 38 flash flood events and 33 general flood events recorded over the last 30 years.
This activity is driven by slow-moving boundaries and training storms, as occurred in May 2019 and August 2021 when persistent heavy rainfall, high precipitable water values, and stationary weather patterns produced repeated rounds of severe storms and flooding across the region.
Properties
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 19 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 2007, with 4 claims and $48,962 paid, the year of Severe Storms and 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.
62 NOAA storm reports from Appanoose County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 20, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 17, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 25, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 10, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
71 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 33 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Sep 29, 2019 | $150,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 29, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 28, 2019 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2019 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 27, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 12, 2021. A slow moving boundary across southern Iowa provided the impetus for training storms along the Iowa Missouri border. Several inches of rain fell and resulted in flash flooding in Appanoose county. Later in the afternoon as the front lifted into central Iowa scattered storms developed within the warm sector. While storms remained below severe thresholds, they did produce two brief funnel clouds in Jasper and Powesh…
Flood · Sep 29, 2019. After a moderate to heavy rainfall event providing 2 to 3 inches just prior to this, the pump was primed so to speak for flooding potential. A generally stationary front resided south of the area into Missouri, but upper level and mid level flow strongly suggested storms would track north of the surface boundary and across portions of southern and central Iowa. The initial wave of rain was initiated by a mid-upper…
Flash Flood · Sep 29, 2019. After a moderate to heavy rainfall event providing 2 to 3 inches just prior to this, the pump was primed so to speak for flooding potential. A generally stationary front resided south of the area into Missouri, but upper level and mid level flow strongly suggested storms would track north of the surface boundary and across portions of southern and central Iowa. The initial wave of rain was initiated by a mid-upper…
Flood · May 28, 2019. The hits just kept on rolling, with yet another pair of rounds of strong to severe storms, heavy rainfall, and flooding. Through much of the end of May, the synoptic setup across the region remained relatively unchanged, including this event. Upper level flow continued to be out of the SW, precipitable water values remained in excess of 1.5 inches, and a relatively stationary boundary remained over the area. In ad…
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 Appanoose 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.