368 flood insurance claims·$3.9M 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 Shawnee 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk in Shawnee County, Kansas, backed by 86 recorded flash flood events compared to 29 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent occurrences include heavy rainfall of two to six inches from a slow-moving front causing street flooding and water rescues on June 3, 2025, as well as widespread rainfall totals reaching up to ten inches that produced multiple instances of flash flooding on July 1, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, led by Zone A with 240 claims averaging a payout of $13,075 and an average recorded water depth of 20 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X with an average payout of $13,165 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches, Zone X Unshaded with an average payout of $17,245 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches, and Zone X Shaded with an average payout of $18,539 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A, along with properties located in shaded and unshaded Zone X areas, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks given the historical distribution of claims and recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
24% of Shawnee County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
317 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 17 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 2005, with 74 claims and $1.1M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, Heavy Rains, and Flooding, Hurricane Katrina Evacuation and Severe Storms and Flooding.
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 Shawnee County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 8, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 6, 2007 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 4, 2007 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 1, 2005 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Sep 1, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Heavy Rains, And Flooding | Jan 4, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 12, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
115 since 1996: 86 flash floods and 29 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 4, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 22, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 3, 2025. On 6/3, slow moving front resulted in several rounds of thunderstorms across northeast Kansas. This resulted in rainfall amounts of 2 to 6 inches and a few instances of water rescues and street flooding.
Flood · Jul 4, 2024. Multiple rounds of scattered storms developed on the evening of July 2 and 3. Both of these events only produced isolated wind damage across central and east-central Kansas, with some flooding also occurring early morning on July 4.
Flood · Jul 1, 2024. Widespread rainfall of two to five inches, with localized amounts of up to ten inches, produced multiple instances of flash flooding across east-central Kansas.
Flash Flood · May 17, 2022. Two large clusters of storms formed into a large QLCS and produced hail, damaging wind to as high as 85 mph, and flash flooding during the evening of 5/17.
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 Shawnee 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.