6 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 Clarke 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 and recurring flood events define the flood risk profile in Clarke County, Iowa, which recorded 42 floods and 21 flash flood events over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Severe weather patterns have repeatedly impacted the region, demonstrated by an event in June 2015 when training heavy rain producers moved across the area, and a subsequent flash flood in September 2016 driven by a slow-moving low pressure system and associated frontal boundaries. Heavy rainfall events continue to threaten the area, such as an incident in August 2025 when storms produced over three inches of rain across parts of Clarke, Decatur, and Wayne counties.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated near rivers, streams, and localized low-lying areas prone to rapid accumulation from heavy summer rainfall and training thunderstorms.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
55 NOAA storm reports from Clarke County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Apr 26, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 3, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 25, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 10, 2007 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 5, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Jun 13, 1998 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 42 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 12, 2019 | $200,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 24, 2016 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2015 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Aug 23, 2014 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2014 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2014 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 7, 2025. Iowa was on the edge of a deep thermal ridge. Several weak embedded waves moved across, aiding in thunderstorms development as the interacted with the low level jet through the early morning. These early morning storms did remain sub severe, but produced heavy rain that continued through midday. Training storms across southern Iowa result in an area of five to seven plus inches of rain, but no flash flooding occur…
Flood · Mar 12, 2019. Early reports starting on the 9th are in this entry, with several later reports starting on the 13th in Part II. ||Additionally the combination of heavy snowpack and heavy rainfall absorbed into the snow partially collapsed a horse barn roof in rural Adair County near Greenfield. ||An ice jam occurred in Ottumwa on the Des Moines River causing flash flooding were water rapidly rose several feet on the morning of t…
Flash Flood · Sep 24, 2016. Leading up to this event, a low pressure system was slowly working its way northeast through the Dakotas and into southern Canada. The associated fronts made their presence felt within Iowa on the 24th and 25th. The warm front worked its way up through the state on the 24th with little consequence, followed by the cold front and leading storms overnight the 24th into the 25th. While no damaging winds or hail we…
Flood · Jun 25, 2015. A slowly northward moving boundary/warm front was draped across the area throughout the day. By the evening vigorous storms fired up just north of the boundary and continued as the low level jet began to pick up. Numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds were reported. Fairly quickly after sunset, storms transitioned away from multi-cellular severe to training heavy rain producers over an area NW to SE r…
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 Clarke 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.