100 flood insurance claims·$1.6M 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 Labette 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 and river flooding from slow-moving thunderstorms dominate the flood risk in Labette County, with NOAA records detailing 38 flash flood events and 27 general flood events, including 2 flood-related deaths over the last 30 years. Heavy rainfall from these systems routinely produces short-term inundation. For example, slow-moving thunderstorms on June 28, 2025, produced very heavy rainfall and flash flooding near Mound Valley, while a storm complex on June 3, 2024, caused short-term flooding across multiple areas before subsiding by evening.
Federal insurance data shows that properties in FEMA Zone A experience the heaviest concentration of risk, accounting for 79 NFIP claims with an average payout of $18,822 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Properties located in Zone X unshaded, Zone X, and unknown zones have also recorded claims, with varying average payouts and average recorded water depths of 1 to 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated within FEMA Zone A, where the vast majority of historical flood insurance claims and higher average water depths are concentrated.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Labette County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
89 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 3 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 1986, with 31 claims and $440,299 paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding.
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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Labette County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 25, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 6, 2007 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 26, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Sep 1, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 12, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 4, 2003 |
| Severe Winter Ice Storm | Jan 29, 2002 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
65 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 27 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 3, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 27, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jul 16, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2020 | $100 |
| Flood | Sep 8, 2020 | $100 |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 23, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. A cluster of thunderstorms slowly moved across southeast Kansas during the early morning hours of June 28th. These storms produced very heavy rainfall and reports of flash flooding in the vicinity of Mound Valley, Kansas.
Flood · Jun 3, 2024. A complex of marginally severe thunderstorms developed and moved through the region during the morning hours of the 3rd. Most thunderstorms did not produce severe hail or wind, but rainfall was very heavy causing short term flooding in many areas. This flooding subsided during the evening hours.
Flood · May 27, 2021. This event broke the tornado drought for the NWS Wichita office of 611 days. Storms developed during the late afternoon hours on Wednesday, May 26th over Central Kansas near a warm front. A very moist and unstable air mass was in place which allowed storms to rapidly become severe, producing hail up to baseball size along with a few brief tornadoes. The strongest tornado caused some damage across far northern Rice…
Flood · Jul 16, 2021. Showers and thunderstorms dropped copious amounts of rain across the county warning area prompting several flood warnings and one flash flood warning in Montgomery county.
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 Labette 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.