2 flood insurance claims·$0 paid·5 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 Sac 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.
Long-term storm records indicate that riverine flooding is the dominant flood hazard in Sac County, Iowa, supplemented by frequent flash flooding. Over a thirty-year period, NOAA recorded 33 flood events and 19 flash flood events.
Severe weather events highlight the county's primary flood drivers, including spring snowmelt and heavy summer rainfall. For example, a widespread flood event occurred in March 2019, driven by a deep regional snowpack combined with frozen soils that prevented normal drainage. Similarly, a flash flood occurred in June 2019 after a very wet spring left soils completely primed and unable to absorb new heavy rainfall.
Federal insurance records show minimal historical payout activity in the county, with only one claim logged in Zone A and one claim in Zone UNKNOWN, both showing an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Property owners located within Zone A, as well as those in unmapped or unknown zones, should pay the closest attention to local flood risks, particularly during periods of heavy spring thaw or intense summer storms.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
43 NOAA storm reports from Sac County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 9, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 19, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 23, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 5, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
52 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 33 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Dec 14, 2015 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2010 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 22, 2010 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jun 12, 2010 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2019. Periods of moderate to heavy rainfall are not uncommon throughout the spring and summer months, but given the very wet spring across Iowa, soils were primed and unable to hold copious amounts of new rainfall. The overall setup for this event was somewhat typical with a shortwave moving through the parent flow, and 850 mb low level jet aiding in convective initiation and moisture transport, precipitable water value…
Flood · Mar 15, 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 · 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…
Flash Flood · Jun 18, 2018. A meandering boundary found itself draped across Iowa on the 18th and into the 19th of June, acting as a continued focusing mechanism for showers and thunderstorms. A weakly sheared environment took away form the potential for sustained severe weather, however with as much as 3000 to 4000 J/kg MUCAPE during the afternoon and early evening, opportunities for at least brief severe storms were possible. More concern…
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 Sac 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.