24 flood insurance claims·$247,620 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 Warren 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 dominates Warren County, accounting for 100 recorded events compared to 38 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Significant regional flooding occurred in March 2019 due to a combination of factors documented in NOAA records. A deep snowpack of one to two feet across Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas, paired with frozen soils from below-normal temperatures, was rapidly melted by a mid-March storm system bringing warm temperatures and heavy rain. This heavy rain fell on frozen ground, causing nearly all of the rainfall and snowmelt to runoff into river systems and leading to widespread flooding from March 12 through March 19, 2019.
Properties in FEMA-designated Zone A should pay the most attention, as this zone accounts for the majority of NFIP claims with 17 filings averaging a $20,260 payout and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Properties in Zone X have also experienced claims, recording 6 filings with an average payout of $9,508 and an average recorded water depth of 42 inches.
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 15 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 2008, with 6 claims and $108,818 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and 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.
124 NOAA storm reports from Warren County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 6, 2018 |
| 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.
138 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 100 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 25, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 12, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 11, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 25, 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. 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 14, 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…
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 Warren 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.