7 flood insurance claims·$12,501 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 Pawnee 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.
Flooding from severe summer thunderstorms dominates Pawnee County, supported by a mix of standard flood events and flash floods over the last thirty years according to NOAA data.
Storm events in the county are frequently driven by upper-level shortwave troughs, surface boundaries, and warm fronts producing heavy rainfall. For example, a shortwave trough initiated thunderstorms across the area on May 25, 2019, following a similar event earlier that month on May 7, 2019, when an unstable airmass and warm front enhanced rainfall. Later, on July 25, 2025, early morning thunderstorms dropped heavy rain rates quickly across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed in both high-risk Zone A and unshaded Zone X areas. Zone A records show 4 claims with an average payout of $2,072 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Zone X unshaded records show 3 claims with an average payout of $2,786 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in designated Zone A and Zone X unshaded areas should pay the closest attention to these localized thunderstorm-driven flood risks.
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 1989, with 2 claims and $5,741 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.
1 NOAA storm reports from Pawnee County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 26, 2024 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 8, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 14, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Straight-line Winds | Mar 17, 2022 |
| Severe Storms And Straight Line Winds | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides | Apr 28, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
20 since 1996: 4 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 21, 2020 | — |
| Flood | May 25, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 7, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 15, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Jul 2, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jun 13, 2010 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 25, 2025. During the very early morning thunderstorms developed along a surface boundary. Supported my low/mid level warm and moisture advection, a lot of rain was quickly able to drop heavy rain rates across Kiowa, Pawnee, and Pratt counties.
Flood · Jun 21, 2020. A shortwave trough moved across the CWA with the surface boundary again along the I-70 corridor initiating a number of severe storms that pushed southeast through the afternoon and evening hours. Severe hail and winds were the primary threat but tornadoes were possible in the QLCS scenario, but none were reported.
Flood · May 25, 2019. A s/wv trough initiated thunderstorms across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and this activity spread northeast across the area.
Flood · May 7, 2019. An unstable airmass and the approach of an upper level shortwave helped to initiate thunderstorms. Forcing along a warm front near the southeast counties enhanced the rainfall at many locations.
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 Pawnee 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.