352 flood insurance claims·$8.7M paid·13 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 Des Moines 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 overflow along the Mississippi and general flooding dominate the flood profile of Des Moines County, accounting for 65 recorded events over the last 30 years compared to 33 flash flood events. Significant river flooding occurred in April 2023 due to record winter snowfall, frozen ground, rapid snowmelt, and saturated soils in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which caused major flooding and top-ten crests along the Mississippi River that affected roads, businesses, and homes. Prolonged flooding also occurred in July 2024 when upstream rain from Minnesota and Wisconsin combined with local rainfall to extend high river levels.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data shows the highest volume of claims concentrated in Zone A, with 286 claims averaging $25,130 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Properties in Zone X_SHADED recorded an average water depth of 38 inches across 16 claims with an average payout of $77,615, while 7 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaged $94,878 with an average recorded water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located near rivers, particularly along the Mississippi River and within Zones A and Shaded or Unshaded Zone X, should pay the most attention to flood risk and mitigation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Des Moines County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
309 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 17 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 90 claims and $4.2M 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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Des Moines County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 13 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Flooding | Apr 24, 2023 |
| 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 | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 17, 2013 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
98 since 1996: 33 flash floods and 65 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 27, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Apr 26, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Apr 11, 2020 | — |
| Flood | May 29, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 1, 2024. Rain that fell during the month of June across Minnesota and Wisconsin caused rises on the Mississippi River along the Iowa and Illinois border. Additionally, heavy rain that fell locally in July helped to prolong the crest and delay the river falling below flood stage, especially south of the Wapsipinicon, Rock, and Iowa Rivers.
Flood · Apr 27, 2023. Significant flooding occurred on the mainstem Mississippi largely due to the record snowfall this winter in Minnesota and Wisconsin, frozen ground, rapid snowmelt during the middle of April, and saturated soils. Major flooding was observed at all sites along the Mississippi north of Keokuk Iowa and most sites saw one of their top 10 crests on record.|This flooding had numerous impacts, with many roads, businesses…
Flood · Apr 26, 2023. Significant flooding occurred on the mainstem Mississippi largely due to the record snowfall this winter in Minnesota and Wisconsin, frozen ground, rapid snowmelt during the middle of April, and saturated soils. Major flooding was observed at all sites along the Mississippi north of Keokuk Iowa and most sites saw one of their top 10 crests on record.|This flooding had numerous impacts, with many roads, businesses…
Flash Flood · May 26, 2022. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms developed across all of eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and far northeast Missouri on the afternoon of Thursday May 26, 2022. These showers and storms formed in response to an area of low pressure moving across eastern Missouri into central Illinois during the afternoon and evening. This activity slowly rotated around the low, allowing showers and storms to produce torr…
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 Des Moines 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.