5 flood insurance claims·$19,113 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 Lucas 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 events dominate Lucas County, supported by 90 recorded flood events and 17 flash flood events over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database. Heavy rainfall repeatedly triggered river flooding across multiple basins, including the Chariton River basin, as documented during the October 2018 flood event. Persistent weather patterns, such as a stationary boundary combined with high precipitable water values, also produced severe rainfall and flooding in late May 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate flood claims have occurred in unshaded Zone X and areas with unknown zones. Specifically, Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 4 claims with an average payout of $4,660 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $473 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located near river basins and within unshaded Zone X or unknown zones where past claims have been filed.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
The worst year was 1993, with 2 claims and $11,776 paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
86 NOAA storm reports from Lucas County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 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 20, 2015 |
| 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 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
107 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 90 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 24, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 28, 2019 | $80,000 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2016 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2015 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2014 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 24, 2021. Deep Gulf moisture fed into the state with the LLJ pushing a warm front north into southern Iowa through the late evening. Storms motion was generally parallel to the boundary, resulting in training of storms across southern Iowa and heavy rain. Many locations in southern Iowa received 3 to 6 inches of rain in a few hours with one location reporting over 7 inches of rain.
Flood · May 28, 2019. The hits just kept on rolling, with yet another pair of rounds of strong to severe storms, heavy rainfall, and flooding. Through much of the end of May, the synoptic setup across the region remained relatively unchanged, including this event. Upper level flow continued to be out of the SW, precipitable water values remained in excess of 1.5 inches, and a relatively stationary boundary remained over the area. In ad…
Flood · Oct 9, 2018. Heavy rain continued into mid October with many rivers going into flood again across much of the forecast area. Flooding was observed in the Des Moines, Iowa, Cedar, Chariton, Thompson and Raccoon River basins.
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 Lucas 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.