37 flood insurance claims·$1.3M 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 Jasper 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.
Standard river flooding dominates the historical record in Jasper County, Iowa, supported by 53 recorded flood events compared to 12 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Slow-moving storms driven by low-pressure systems can drastically increase localized risks, such as the multiple rounds of thunderstorms on May 21, 2024, which dropped 2 to 4 inches of rainfall and caused flash flooding across portions of northern and central Iowa.
NFIP claim records demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple FEMA zones in the county. Zone X recorded 21 claims with an average payout of $35,465 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Zone A registered 11 claims with an average payout of $67,043 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone X_UNSHADED had 4 claims averaging $32,156 with an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $8 and an average water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents monitoring properties in both designated high-risk zones and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to these historical payout and water depth averages when evaluating local flood exposure.
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 2 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 19 claims and $621,535 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 Jasper County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Storms | Aug 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 26, 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 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 23, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
65 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 53 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Dec 15, 2015 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Sep 1, 2015 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 21, 2024. PLEASE NOTE, for tornadoes, please see separate Storm Data entry for May 21st. ||Multiple rounds of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall, damaging winds, hail and destructive tornadoes to the state. These thunderstorms were the result of a low pressure system which lifted north into the area on the night of May 20th, 2024, producing slow moving storms that dropped 2 to 4 inches of rainfall. This resulted in f…
Flash Flood · May 21, 2024. PLEASE NOTE, for tornadoes, please see separate Storm Data entry for May 21st. ||Multiple rounds of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall, damaging winds, hail and destructive tornadoes to the state. These thunderstorms were the result of a low pressure system which lifted north into the area on the night of May 20th, 2024, producing slow moving storms that dropped 2 to 4 inches of rainfall. This resulted in f…
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 13, 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…
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 Jasper 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.