2 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 Russell 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 severe summer thunderstorms dominate the flood risk in Russell County, Kansas, accounting for 14 flash flood events and 16 general flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe weather moving across central Kansas frequently produces heavy rainfall leading to localized flooding. For example, storms on May 25, 2020, brought heavy rainfall with reports ranging from 3 inches to 6.59 inches, resulting in flash flooding across Russell, Ellsworth, and Saline counties. Subsequent events continued this pattern, including heavy rainfall and flooding on May 16, 2021, and a complex of storms on June 5, 2022, that produced flash flooding alongside damaging winds and large hail across the region.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located near low-lying areas, small creeks, and known flash-flood-prone zones where intense convective storms can rapidly produce hazardous high water.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9 NOAA storm reports from Russell County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| 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 |
| Ellsworth-lincoln-russell Fire Complex | Mar 4, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 13, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 2, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
30 since 1996: 14 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 5, 2022 | $500 |
| Flood | May 26, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Aug 25, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 30, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Oct 8, 2018 | $100 |
| Flood | Sep 4, 2018 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 5, 2022. A complex of storms initially developed across central Kansas during the evening hours or June 5th, 2022. The storms initially produced damaging winds, flash flooding and large hail across central Kansas, before propagating to the south, producing damaging winds and flooding across south central Kansas during the late evening hours.
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…
Flash Flood · May 16, 2021. Storms initially producing very heavy rains across central Kansas produced flooding for several locations. The next round of storms didn't produce quite as much rain, however, did spawn severe winds and hail.
Flash Flood · May 25, 2020. Severe thunderstorms moved across central Kansas during the evening of May 24th. These storms produced quarter to half dollar sized hail and damaging winds. Heavy rainfall associated with these storms resulted in flash flooding in Ellsworth, Russell and Saline counties. Some of the higher reports ranged from 3 inches to 6.59 inches.
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 Russell 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.