4 flood insurance claims·$6,005 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 Greene 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 driven by snowmelt and heavy rainfall dominates the flood history of Greene County. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 49 general flood events compared to 14 flash flood events.
Severe flooding occurred in March 2019 when a deep winter snowpack, frozen ground, and heavy rain combined to produce widespread runoff and river flooding. Continued heavy rainfall and high streamflows led to additional flooding in May 2019.
Historical National Flood Insurance Program records show minimal claims activity, limited to a single claim in Zone X with an average payout of $5,505 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch, and three claims in zones categorized as unknown with an average payout of $500 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents near rivers and low-lying areas should pay the most attention to flood risks, particularly during periods of rapid spring snowmelt and heavy spring precipitation.
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 1996, with 2 claims and $0 paid.
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.
55 NOAA storm reports from Greene County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms | Aug 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 19, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 25, 2008 |
| Snow | Feb 28, 2007 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 23, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 14 flash floods and 49 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 24, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 6, 2015 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2013 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 24, 2019. Continued heavy rain and high streamflows led to many rivers going back into flood in late May across central Iowa. Several crests occurred on the Des Moines River at Ottumwa. Many of these were due to planned releases from Lake Red Rock, with some of the water from heavy rainfall.
Flood · Mar 15, 2019. Higher than average snowfall through the winter created a wet snowpack across much of Iowa which was still present into early March. A large storm system impacted the region through the middle of March which brought heavy rain and warm temperatures to the state. This system allowed much of the snowpack to melt across the state within a few days to a week. This heavy rain fell on frozen ground allowing nearly all o…
Flood · Mar 14, 2019. Reports from the 13h through the 19th in this entry. ||A relatively deep and widespread snowpack existed across the region during early to mid March. Many areas in central and northern Iowa had around a foot to two feet of snow on the ground, along with many areas in upstream river basins in Minnesota and the Dakotas having similar or deeper snowpacks on the ground. Additionally, with the below normal temperatures…
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 Greene 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.