94 flood insurance claims·$835,625 paid·10 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 Fayette 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 from prolonged rainfall and snowmelt, alongside flash flooding from summer thunderstorms, shapes the flood risk in Fayette County. Over the last thirty years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 44 flood events and 28 flash flood events. Recent activity includes minor to moderate flooding along the Turkey and Volga Rivers driven by rainfall and melting snow in February 2023, as well as localized flash flooding from thunderstorms on June 22, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that claims occur across different zones, requiring varied attention from property owners. Zone A accounts for the majority of claims with 73 filings averaging $9,615 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Zone X properties recorded 11 claims with an average payout of $15,398 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, while properties with an unknown zone recorded 10 claims averaging $6,360 with an average water depth of 4 inches.
Properties situated near rivers and streams, particularly those within designated flood zones, should pay the most attention to this risk, though homeowners outside mapped high-risk zones must also account for potential property damage during heavy rainfall and flash flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Fayette County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
73 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 2010, with 18 claims and $82,849 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.
39 NOAA storm reports from Fayette County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jul 19, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 25, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
72 since 1996: 28 flash floods and 44 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Aug 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Feb 27, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Aug 28, 2021 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2020 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Aug 18, 2025. Heavy rain throughout the middle of August contributed to rises along many area rivers in northeast Iowa. This included minor to moderate flooding along portions of the Little Cedar and Cedar Rivers, as well as the Upper Iowa and Turkey Rivers.
Flash Flood · Jun 22, 2024. On June 22nd, an initial round of thunderstorms produced localized flash flooding in Fayette County. A secondary round of storms moved through northeast Iowa during the afternoon, producing localized flooding and wind damage in Allamakee County.
Flood · Feb 27, 2023. Runoff from the combination of rainfall and melting snow caused some northeast Iowa river flooding to occur along the Turkey and Volga Rivers in late February.
Flood · Aug 28, 2021. A complex of storms moved across northeast Iowa during the late afternoon and evening of August 27th. These storms produced two tornadoes in the vicinity of Marble Rock (Floyd County). The first tornado was an EF0 west of Marble Rock that only caused some minor crop and structural damage to a farm. The second tornado was rated as an EF1 that passed just to the south of Marble Rock as it moved southeast. Nearly all…
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 Fayette 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.