7 flood insurance claims·$24,323 paid·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 Decatur 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.
Traditional river flooding and flash flooding from slow-moving summer thunderstorms dominate the flood risk profile in Decatur County, Iowa, with NOAA records showing 44 flood events and 19 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Heavy rainfall events frequently overwhelm local drainage capacity, as seen during a June 2025 flash flood when robust thunderstorms dropped three inches of rain over Decatur in an hour due to high precipitable water and slow storm motion. Prior rainfall also primed the area for flooding in September 2019, while a stalled frontal boundary and heavy rainfall contributed to flooding conditions in October 2018.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates historical payouts across different zones, including an average payout of $7,279 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches in Zone A, and an average payout of $4,610 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch in Zone X. Properties located within Zone A and Zone X, as well as those with unknown flood zone designations, should pay the closest attention to local warnings, as historical claims and event narratives demonstrate that heavy rainfall regularly produces standing water and property damage across the county.
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 1 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 2010, with 1 claims and $8,667 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, 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.
52 NOAA storm reports from Decatur County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 3, 2014 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 5, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 44 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 29, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 29, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2015 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2014 | $400,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2014 | $150,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 29, 2025. On the morning of June 29th robust thunderstorms set up across Decatur county, part of a larger system that dropped across South Dakota and Nebraska into Iowa and merging with convection out of Missouri with increasing moisture convergence. All the ingredients for heavy, efficient rain was in place. PWATs exceeded two inches with deep warm cloud layers and very slow mean flow under 15 kts. This resulted in pockets…
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 29, 2019. Heavy rain led to additional river flooding toward the end of May 2019. Some of the flooding on the Des Moines River at Eddyville was due to planned dam releases from Lake Red Rock combined with heavy rainfall.
Flood · Oct 9, 2018. Tornadoes made an October appearance along with other strong storms and heavy rainfall as a number of conditions came together. A frontal boundary stalled out across Iowa, situated from southwest to northeast, roughly cutting the state in half. Dew points were on the high side given the time of the year, in the upper 60s to low 70s, yielding low lifted condensation levels. In addition, low level turning resulted i…
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 Decatur 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.