78 flood insurance claims·$5.5M paid·7 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 Clay 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 dominates Clay County, Iowa, accounting for 170 recorded events alongside 1 flood-related death and 18 flash flood events over the past 30 years. Heavy rainfall and rising streams drive this risk, as demonstrated by a multi-day significant heavy rainfall event from June 20 to June 22, 2024. That event brought widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches across the region, causing major to record flooding along area streams and rivers that devastated several communities with extensive overland flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within FEMA Zone A face the highest risk and severity, recording 67 claims with an average payout of $98,788 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. By comparison, Zone X recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $53,588 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone UNKNOWN, Zone X_SHADED, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 2 claims each, with average payouts ranging from $2,744 to $33,254 and average water depths between 0 and 4 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A should pay the most attention to these flood risks given the significantly higher average claim payouts and water depths in that zone.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Clay County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
71 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 4 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 2024, with 59 claims and $5.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes.
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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Clay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 6, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jul 9, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 1, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
188 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 170 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 30, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 22, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | $25.6M · 1 killed |
| Flood | Jun 17, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 30, 2024. A wet last week of April resulted in saturated conditions and rising stream levels across portions of northwest Iowa. This helped push the Upper Little Sioux River between Milford and Spencer into Minor flood stage at the end of the month.
Flood · May 24, 2024. Another wet period during the mid to later part of May drove portions of the upper and middle Little Sioux Basin back above flood stage after only briefly falling below flood stage just a handful of days early.
Flood · May 22, 2024. Another wet period during the mid to later part of May drove portions of the upper and middle Little Sioux Basin back above flood stage after only briefly falling below flood stage just a handful of days early.
Flood · May 21, 2024. Another wet period during the mid to later part of May drove portions of the upper and middle Little Sioux Basin back above flood stage after only briefly falling below flood stage just a handful of days early.
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 Clay 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.