18 flood insurance claims·$272,592 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 Marion 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 summer thunderstorms dominates Marion County, supplemented by recurring general riverine and heavy-rain flooding. NOAA records show 37 flash flood events and 25 flood events over the last 30 years. Recent historical events include flooding across Marion County on June 18–19, 2024, driven by severe storms moving through central Kansas.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that historical claims are concentrated in designated high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 15 claims with an average payout of $18,173 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Only minimal claims are recorded outside of Zone A, with two claims in Zone UNKNOWN and one claim in Zone X_UNSHADED, both averaging $0 in payouts and 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, where the vast majority of historical flood insurance claims and financial payouts have occurred in Marion 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 4 claims and $122,273 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.
32 NOAA storm reports from Marion County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 8, 2024 |
| 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, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 22, 2013 |
| Snowstorm | Feb 20, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 7, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 25, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
62 since 1996: 37 flash floods and 25 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 3, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 8, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Sep 22, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 13, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 3, 2025. Thunderstorms developed across south-central Kansas during the morning hours of June 3rd and slowly moved to the northeast. Additional rounds of thunderstorms developed and trained across portions of south-central and southeast Kansas. Numerous reports of flash-flooding were observed across the area with significant flooding across Sedgwick and Butler counties.
Flood · Jun 19, 2024. A broken lines of strong to severe storms moved into portions of central Kansas during the evening hours of June 18th. Wind gusts between 60 and 78 mph were reported during the event with the highest wind gust reported by the Bunker Hill Kansas State Mesonet site. Despite these strong winds, the only damage reported were tree limbs down in Ellinwood, KS.||Flooding also occurred across portions of McPherson and Mar…
Flood · Jun 18, 2024. A broken lines of strong to severe storms moved into portions of central Kansas during the evening hours of June 18th. Wind gusts between 60 and 78 mph were reported during the event with the highest wind gust reported by the Bunker Hill Kansas State Mesonet site. Despite these strong winds, the only damage reported were tree limbs down in Ellinwood, KS.||Flooding also occurred across portions of McPherson and Mar…
Flood · Jun 8, 2024. During the evening and into the overnight of the 8th, a complex of strong to severe thunderstorms came through central and southern Kansas. High winds up to 75 to 80 mph occurred with numerous reports of downed tree limbs and power lines. Very heavy rain occurred with this complex of storms causing flooding in southeast Kansas.
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 Marion 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.