37 flood insurance claims·$310,229 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 McPherson 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.
River flooding from heavy rainfall events dominates the flood history of McPherson County, complemented by frequent flash flooding. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 47 general flood events compared to 23 flash flood events. Recent weather patterns illustrate this hazard, such as the severe storms in June 2024 that caused flooding across McPherson and Marion counties. Similarly, heavy rainfall from slow-moving system storms in May 2021 produced widespread flooding across central Kansas.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in FEMA-designated Zone A face the highest risk, accounting for 25 claims with an average payout of $13,927 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Claims were also filed in lower-risk zones, including four claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaging $2,313 with an average water depth of 2 inches, three claims in Zone X averaging $7,722 with an average water depth of 1 inch, three claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaging $4,795 with an average water depth of 6 inches, and two claims in Zone X_SHADED averaging $560 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and low-lying areas prone to intense seasonal rainfall accumulation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
17% of McPherson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
30 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 9 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 2025, with 5 claims and $175,239 paid.
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.
20 NOAA storm reports from McPherson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides | Apr 28, 2019 |
| Highland Hills Fire | Mar 4, 2017 |
| 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, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 7, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Record And Near Record Snow | Mar 26, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 6, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
70 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 47 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 22, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 19, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 26, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 16, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Aug 7, 2021 | $100 |
| Flood | May 18, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 22, 2025. Two areas of storms developed during the evening hours and continued into the overnight in north central and south central Kansas. Strong and damaging winds were the main hazard with estimated wind gusts up to 75 mph. There was damage to trees and powerlines reported. A semi trailer was blown over on Interstate 70 as well. A few of the storms had hail from nickel to quarter size. These storms were efficient rainfa…
Flood · May 19, 2024. Around 2:30pm on Sunday May 19th, a high precipitation supercell developed near Hays along a warm front. This storm tracked east along I-70 producing a few brief tornadoes across Russell and northern Ellsworth county. As it progressed east, the wind and hail threat ramp-up as it moved into Saline County. The Salina Airport measured a 100 mph wind gust! There was also numerous reports of golf ball size hail acro…
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…
Flash Flood · May 26, 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…
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 McPherson 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.