5 flood insurance claims·$10,746 paid·1 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 Clay 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 storms dominates the flood risk profile in Clay County, Kansas, accounting for 31 of the 38 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 7 general flood events.
Severe storms frequently bring heavy rainfall and flash flooding, as demonstrated by an event on April 2, 2025, when rainfall amounts reaching up to 6 inches caused flash flooding across rural areas. Another multi-day storm system produced flash flooding between August 15 and August 17, 2019. National Flood Insurance Program records show claims have occurred in both high-risk and moderate-to-low risk areas, including Zone A with 3 claims averaging a payout of $10,746 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch, as well as single claims in Zone X and Zone X_UNSHADED with $0 average payouts and 0 inches of average recorded water depth.
Homeowners and real estate professionals working with properties located in designated Zone A areas, as well as those near rural areas prone to intense rainfall accumulation, should pay the closest attention to flood risk and insurance requirements in the county.
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.
The worst year was 2019, with 2 claims and $10,746 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides.
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 Clay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 1 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, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Sep 1, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 22, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 7, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 31 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2025 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 5, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 5, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2013 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 2, 2025. Scattered Storms congealed into a severe line of storms during the evening and overnight, producing wind gusts up to 70 mph, hail to ping pong ball size, and several brief funnel clouds. Rainfall amounts up to 6 inches led to some flash flooding over rural areas.
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2021. One report of flash flooding happened early on 7/15 from a slow moving storm system.
Flash Flood · May 23, 2019. A cluster of severe t-storms moved across parts of north central and northeast Kansas during the early morning hours of May 24th. Two small tornadoes did occur and produced damaged to parts of the city of Marysville. The storm produced another small tornado in Nemaha county. Both were rated EF1 based on damage indicators provided by EM and other sources of imagery.
Flash Flood · Aug 17, 2019. Another round of thunderstorms produced reports of large hail and damaging winds during the middle of the month. Rounds of storms produced the hail and wind August 15 through August 17th. Flash flooding also occurred with some of the storms during this period.
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 Clay 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.