2 flood insurance claims·$1,761 paid·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 Washington 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 localized severe weather events dominates the flood risk profile, accounting for 13 of the 18 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 5 general flood events.
This hazard is driven by storm complexes moving over saturated soils or training repeatedly over the same areas. For example, a stationary boundary triggered storms that trained over Washington County on May 7, 2015, causing flash flooding, while another round of storms produced similar flooding on June 23, 2015.
Federal insurance records show limited historical claims activity tied specifically to Zone A, with only 2 recorded claims averaging $1,761 in payouts and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and areas prone to rapid runoff from heavy rainfall.
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.
1 NOAA storm reports from Washington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Haddam Fire | Apr 13, 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, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 4, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 22, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 7, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
18 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Aug 29, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2016 | — |
| Flood | May 9, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2010 | — |
| Flood | Jul 4, 2010 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2007 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Aug 29, 2016. Numerous rounds of thunderstorms produced flooding across the area.
Flash Flood · May 27, 2016. Saturated soils from the previous days' rainfall led to flash-flooding across north-central Kansas as a complex of thunderstorms moved through during the afternoon and evening.
Flood · May 9, 2016. Scattered severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon across central Kansas. One weak tornado was reported in Clay County. These storms then pushed eastward before weakening and merging into a line of thunderstorms.
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2015. During the day of the 23rd storms produced hail in isolated locations. These storms trained over the same areas which caused flooding.
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 Washington 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.