26 flood insurance claims·$298,362 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 Rice 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.
Over the last 30 years, long-duration river and general flooding events dominate the recorded flood mix in Rice County, Kansas, alongside frequent flash floods. NOAA storm records document severe weather impacts, such as heavy rainfall causing prolonged flooding along Cow Creek on July 15, 2020, and widespread flooding resulting from stalled frontal boundaries and saturated soils on May 8, 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A properties bear the heaviest financial impact, accounting for 22 claims with an average payout of $19,489 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. By contrast, Zone X properties account for 3 claims with an average payout of $6,025 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, while 1 claim is recorded in an unknown zone with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within designated Zone A flood zones, where historical claim frequency and payout amounts are significantly higher.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Rice County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
22 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 2019, with 10 claims and $50,904 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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Rice County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
25 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 | Jul 14, 2023 |
| Severe Storms And Straight Line Winds | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides | Apr 28, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 4, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Sep 1, 2018 |
| Highland Hills Fire | Mar 4, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 13, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
41 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 25 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 26, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jul 15, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 22, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2019 | $100 |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 5, 2019 | $100 |
| Flood | Oct 9, 2018 | $100 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flood · Jul 15, 2020. Widespread storms across central Kansas packed a punch with several reports of high winds up to 80 mph and sporadic areas of damage on July 15th, 2020. Heavy rains also prompted flood warnings for several counties with the one in Rice county lasting quite long due to flooding along Cow creek.
Flood · Jun 22, 2019. Extremely powerful Severe thunderstorms that produced a trifecta of large (in a few instances very large) hail, damaging winds that reached as high as 80 mph, and flash floods struck parts of Central as well as most of South-Central and Southeast Kansas in the afternoon and evening of the 22nd. Hardest hit were Reno and Sedgwick counties where hail reached the size of baseballs in Reno County and widespread winds…
Flash Flood · Aug 18, 2019. Very few locations were spared from the severe storms that moved across the area at various times the 17th and 18th. Winds up to 70 mph and hail to golf ball size were noted along with locations of very heavy rain.
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 Rice 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.