64 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·2 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 Bourbon County, Kansas. 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.
Flash flooding from severe thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Bourbon County, Kansas, accounting for 71 out of 81 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 10 general flood events. Recent severe weather demonstrates this pattern, including an April 2024 storm system that produced heavy rainfall and local flooding following multiple days of severe weather. Similarly, persistent storms on August 16, 2019, dropped over three inches of rain and caused flash flooding in Fort Scott and the surrounding area from Fort Scott to Salem.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A face the heaviest financial exposure, generating 59 claims with an average payout of $41,422 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in shaded Zone X also recorded significant losses, including a single claim averaging a $400,000 payout with an average water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and shaded Zone X, where historical claim frequencies and payout averages demonstrate the greatest vulnerability to rising waters from heavy rainfall events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Bourbon County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
61 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 5 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 1998, with 19 claims and $1.1M 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Bourbon County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 18, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides | Apr 28, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 22, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 8, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 25, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding And Tornadoes | May 22, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
81 since 1996: 71 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 20, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 25, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 20, 2025. A strong storm system moved through the area on Sunday April 20th, 2025. This system brought tornadoes, damaging wind, large hail and heavy rain. The heavy rainfall led to flooding as the area had already received heavy rainfall from the previous week.
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2024. A third day of storms with locally heavy rainfall and isolated severe storms produced local flooding and hail to the size of pennies.
Flash Flood · Apr 25, 2024. Heavy rainfall from several rounds of storms lead to flash flooding of small creeks and streams.
Flood · Mar 13, 2021. Heavy rainfall from storms along a slow moving front produced localized flooding.
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 Bourbon 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.