643 flood insurance claims·$14.1M paid·8 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 Bremer 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.
River flooding and flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and spring snowmelt characterize the flood risk in Bremer County, Iowa. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 34 flood events and 24 flash flood events.
Recent historic events illustrate these hazards. In May 2024, multiple rounds of slow-moving thunderstorms produced 2 to 4 inches of rainfall, resulting in flash flooding. A prior event in March 2019 involved a deep regional snowpack of one to two feet combined with frozen soils, which contributed to widespread river flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in Zone A experienced the highest impact with 549 claims, averaging a payout of $26,314 and an average recorded water depth of 28 inches. Additional claims occurred outside designated high-risk zones, including 62 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $20,862 and an average water depth of 15 inches, 16 claims in Zone X shaded with an average payout of $21,296 and an average water depth of 31 inches, and 5 claims in Zone X unshaded with an average payout of $24,227 and an average water depth of 38 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A and Zone X variants where historical claims and standing water depths have been documented.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Bremer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
570 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 26 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 2008, with 367 claims and $11.8M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
54 NOAA storm reports from Bremer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jul 19, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 25, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 23, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 2, 1999 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
58 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 34 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Jun 13, 2018 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Sep 2, 2018 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2018 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 22, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 22, 2017 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 21, 2024. PLEASE NOTE, for tornadoes, please see separate Storm Data entry for May 21st. ||Multiple rounds of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall, damaging winds, hail and destructive tornadoes to the state. These thunderstorms were the result of a low pressure system which lifted north into the area on the night of May 20th, 2024, producing slow moving storms that dropped 2 to 4 inches of rainfall. This resulted in f…
Flash Flood · May 28, 2020. An upper-level system over the Ozarks lifted north and interacted with a northern stream shortwave moving across the area, amplifying forcing. High precipitable water values of nearly two inches were in place. While the system was somewhat progressive in nature, an area of enhanced reflectivity set up over east-central to northeast Iowa, resulting in prolonged heavy rain in the area.
Flood · Mar 14, 2019. Reports from the 13h through the 19th in this entry. ||A relatively deep and widespread snowpack existed across the region during early to mid March. Many areas in central and northern Iowa had around a foot to two feet of snow on the ground, along with many areas in upstream river basins in Minnesota and the Dakotas having similar or deeper snowpacks on the ground. Additionally, with the below normal temperatures…
Flood · Jun 13, 2018. After a very brief reprieve from multiple days of activity, another round of storms greeted large parts of central Iowa during the very early morning hours of the 14th, through the rest of the morning, and into the afternoon. Traditional severe weather in the form of hail and damaging winds were sporadic, while heavy rain and flash flooding was the main player. The hail and wind reports were low end severe with ge…
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 Bremer 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.