1 flood insurance claims·$439 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 Chautauqua 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 slow-moving summer thunderstorms and heavy rain events dominates the flood risk in Chautauqua County, supported by 19 flash flood events and 15 general flood events recorded over the last 30 years.
Recent weather patterns demonstrate this threat. On August 10, 2025, slow-moving evening thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall and large hail following morning storm activity. Similarly, widespread showers and storms moved across the region on May 13, 2020, producing very heavy rain. While severe weather systems also bring high winds and tornadoes, as seen during the volatile conditions on April 27, 2024, intense rainfall remains a primary driver of localized flooding.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay attention to properties outside mapped high-risk areas, as historical NFIP claims data for unshaded Zone X indicate an average payout of $439 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
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 1 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Chautauqua County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Tornadoes And Flooding | May 9, 2019 |
| 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 Winter Storm And Record And Near Record Snow | Mar 26, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding And Tornadoes | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 6, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
34 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 13, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 3, 2019 | $100 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | $100 |
| Flood | Oct 8, 2018 | $100 |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flood | May 23, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 10, 2025. After a morning round of thunderstorms, additional thunderstorms developed during the evening hours of August 10th. These storms moved quite slowly and produced heavy rainfall and large hail.
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2024. On Saturday April 27th, there was volatile severe weather across Kansas and Oklahoma. An abundance of moisture and increasing shear through the day resulted in numerous rotating storms which produced several tornadoes across the Flint Hills into southeast Kansas. The strongest tornado was an EF-2 which occurred in Cowley County which did damage to a few outbuildings. Luckily there were no injuries or fatalities re…
Flood · May 13, 2020. Widespread showers and storms moved across the central sections of Kansas producing very heavy rain and a few lower end severe hail reports.
Flash Flood · Jul 3, 2019. South central Kansas saw a few multicell severe thunderstorms during the evening of July 3rd, 2019, with some reports of large hail and damaging winds. As the evening and overnight progressed a complex of thunderstorms developed over central Kansas. This slow moving complex of thunderstorms led to reports of flash flooding during the morning hours of July 4th, 2019, across portions of central Kansas, across Mar…
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 Chautauqua 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.