316 flood insurance claims·$7.1M paid·11 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 Butler 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.
Prolonged river flooding and flash flooding from severe thunderstorms dominate the historical flood risk in Butler County, Iowa, backed by 100 recorded flood events and 28 flash flood events over the last 30 years, resulting in one death.
Recent activity is illustrated by events in May 2024, when multiple rounds of slow-moving thunderstorms driven by a low-pressure system dropped 2 to 4 inches of rainfall, causing widespread flash flooding and river flooding across the area.
Residents and property owners should pay the closest attention to locations within FEMA Flood Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of historical claims in the county with 256 claims averaging a payout of $24,410 and a recorded water depth of 21 inches. Properties located in Zone X, shaded Zone X, unshaded Zone X, and unknown zones also carry risk, having recorded a combined 60 claims with average water depths ranging from 5 to 22 inches and average payouts between $7,022 and $41,386.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Butler County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
288 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 18 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 148 claims and $4.3M 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.
113 NOAA storm reports from Butler County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 20, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 26, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 21, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 1, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
128 since 1996: 28 flash floods and 100 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 23, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 22, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 23, 2024. Heavy rain fell over portions of northern Iowa, especially northwestern Iowa and bordering states later on June 20 through early on June 21. This rainfall caused flash flooding in portions of northwest Iowa and also aided in saturating the soil. As another round of heavy rain fell later on June 21 into the night and morning of June 22, this rainfall led to renewed flash flooding. This rainfall made its way into st…
Flood · May 22, 2024. There were several rounds of rainfall over the period starting around May 20 through around May 25. This is when there were two rounds of heavy rainfall along with severe thunderstorms including tornadoes and straight-line winds, detailed in respective severe entries for the month. 60-hour rainfall totals ending May 21 at 7pm were up to 4 to 6 inches over portions of Marshall, Tama, Poweshiek, and Jasper Counties.…
Flood · May 22, 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…
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…
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 Butler 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.