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FEMA flood zones · Kansas

Kearny County, Kansas Flood Zone Map

1 flood insurance claims·$0 paid·1 federal flood & hurricane disasters

FEMA’s digital flood map shows no high- or moderate-risk zones in Kearny County. That can mean the area was never studied in detail or has no digital map, not that it can’t flood; the county floodplain administrator can say which.

Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.

Coastal high risk (V, VE)FloodwayHigh risk (A, AE)Moderate (X, 500-year)Minimal (X)Undetermined (D)

Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Kearny 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.

In their words

1 NOAA storm reports from Kearny County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →

Federal disasters

11 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.

DisasterBegan
Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And FloodingJun 26, 2024
Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And FloodingJul 14, 2023
Severe Storms And Straight Line WindsDec 15, 2021
Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Straight-line Winds, And FloodingApr 28, 2017
Severe Winter Storm And Record And Near Record SnowMar 26, 2009
Severe Winter StormsDec 6, 2007
Severe Winter StormDec 28, 2006
Hurricane Katrina EvacuationSep 1, 2005

Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.

Recorded flood events

14 since 1996: 10 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.

EventDateDamage
Flash FloodJun 13, 2023—
Flash FloodMay 24, 2021—
Flash FloodAug 18, 2018—
Flash FloodMay 28, 2015—
FloodJul 22, 2009$1,000
FloodFeb 20, 2007—
FloodMar 1, 2007—
FloodJun 18, 2004—

— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

From the storm reports

Flash Flood · Jun 13, 2023. Heavy rain produced flooding across portions of Kearny County.

Flash Flood · May 24, 2021. A surface low over southeastern Colorado with boundaries extending south and northeast across northwestern counties of the CWA helped initiate severe thunderstorms and eventually heavy rainfall. Boundary layer moisture was rather high across the area. Strong shear and good instability was mainly west of the Hwy 83 corridor with the bulk of reports in this area. Later in the evening the main threat was heavy rain…

Flash Flood · Aug 18, 2018. A weak surface boundary was the focus for thunderstorm development as a short wave trough approached to enhance the lift of the unstable atmosphere.

Flash Flood · May 28, 2015. An unstable atmosphere, residual outflow boundaries and an approaching shortwave trough helped to produce thunderstorms, some severe.

National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

The zones you’ll see on the map

Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.

Cross-section of a river floodplainDiagram: a river valley. The floodway is the channel and the land beside it; the 1%-annual-chance flood surface (the base flood elevation) covers the valley floor as zone A or AE; a narrow band higher up is shaded X, the 0.2% floodplain; higher ground is X.0.2% CHANCE A YEAR (500-YEAR)BASE FLOOD ELEVATION · 1% A YEARXAEFloodwayAEX
  1. A / AE Inside the 1%-a-year floodplain: about a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. AE has a mapped base flood elevation; plain A does not.
  2. Floodway The channel and the land beside it that has to be kept clear enough to carry the flood. Building here is tightly limited.
  3. X shaded The 0.2% (500-year) floodplain, plus some levee-protected and very shallow flood areas.
  4. X Outside both lines. No federal requirement to insure, which is not the same as no risk.

Every flood zone code explained →

Flood insurance in Kearny County

If a building in Kearny 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.