1 flood insurance claims·$15,000 paid·3 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 Brown 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Brown County, Kansas. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 26 flash flood events alongside 7 general flood events.
Recent history illustrates this pattern. Multiple rounds of rain late in the evening on June 24, 2021, and continuing through the overnight hours, caused flash flooding across far northeastern Kansas. Similarly, severe thunderstorms on August 29 and August 30, 2019, brought heavy rainfall, damaging winds, large hail, and reported flooding to the region.
Federal insurance records reflect limited historical payouts within high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 1 recorded NFIP claim with an average payout of $15,000 and an average recorded water depth of 99 inches.
Homeowners, journalists, and real estate agents operating in or near Zone A properties should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
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 99 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from Brown County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Straight Line Winds | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides | Apr 28, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 7, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding And Tornadoes | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 6, 2007 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 4, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
33 since 1996: 26 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 24, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 29, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 14, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 13, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Jun 4, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 24, 2021. Flash flooding occurred in far northeastern Kansas, and damaging wind occurred across the area due to multiple rounds of rain late in the evening on 6/24 through the overnight hours.
Flash Flood · Aug 29, 2019. Yet another round of severe t-storms occurred across parts of northeast Kansas on August 29th and August 30th. Damaging winds, large hail and some flooding was reported. The worst damage occurred in and around the city of Emporia where widespread downburst winds of 75-100 mph caused significant tree damage and some structural damage to grain bins and outbuildings. The swath of damage was oriented from northwest…
Flash Flood · Jun 22, 2019. Multiple rounds of widespread thunderstorm activity moved across the area from the late afternoon hours of June 22nd through midday on the 23rd.
Flash Flood · Sep 14, 2016. The month of September saw no severe reports of wind, hail or tornadoes. However, a few events caused heavy rainfall resulting in flash-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 Brown 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.