11 flood insurance claims·$134,429 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 Mahaska 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 and flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominate Mahaska County, with NOAA records detailing 117 flood events and 29 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events include heavy rainfall and storms in March 2019, which involved heavy snowpack absorption and ice jams, as well as persistent heavy rainfall driven by stationary boundaries and high precipitable water values in May 2019 and July 2024, when rainfall totals reached up to 5 inches.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in FEMA-designated Zone A face the highest risk, averaging 5 claims with an average payout of $26,338 and an average recorded water depth of 60 inches. In contrast, Zone X properties have recorded fewer impacts, averaging 5 claims with a $9,105 average payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, while Zone X unshaded properties averaged 1 claim of $1,762 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where flood events have historically produced significantly deeper water and higher average financial losses.
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 12 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 6 claims and $23,653 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.
114 NOAA storm reports from Mahaska County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 7 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 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 Storm | Dec 10, 2007 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 17, 2007 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 23, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
146 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 117 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 28, 2019 | $10,000 |
| Flood | May 28, 2019 | $250,000 |
| Flood | May 28, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Jun 28, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 27, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 21, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 9, 2019 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 2, 2024. An area of low pressure with an associated warm front tracked over northern Iowa along with another warm front that lifted into near western/southern Iowa during the morning hours, which resulted in moderate to heavy rainfall over portions of the state. Scattered showers and storms continued across much of Iowa throughout the day, with PWATS around 2-2.5 inches, a present LLJ and deeper warm cloud depths, leading…
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 · May 28, 2019. Heavy rain led to additional river flooding toward the end of May 2019. Some of the flooding on the Des Moines River at Eddyville was due to planned dam releases from Lake Red Rock combined with heavy rainfall.
Flood · Jun 28, 2019. River levels were high along the Des Moines River from dam releases upstream at Lake Red Rock. A heavy rainfall event across southeast Iowa caused the Des Moines River at Eddyville to briefly go into flood.
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 Mahaska 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.