172 flood insurance claims·$2.5M paid·10 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 Chippewa County, Minnesota. 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.
River flooding driven by heavy spring snowmelt and seasonal warming dominates the flood character of Chippewa County, supplemented by occasional flash flooding from intense summer storms. Historical events illustrate this pattern, such as a severe spring snowmelt flood in March 2019 caused by above-average snowpack and a cold late winter, and widespread flooding in April 2023 resulting from accelerated melting following a near-record snowfall season.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims are distributed across multiple zones. Properties in Zone A have accumulated 62 claims with an average payout of $21,299 and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches. Shaded Zone X properties recorded 58 claims averaging $13,882 with an average water depth of 15 inches, while unshaded Zone X properties recorded 11 claims averaging $4,310 with an average water depth of 21 inches. Standard Zone X properties accounted for 40 claims averaging $18,116 with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Property owners in identified special flood hazard areas, such as Zone A, and those situated near rivers, streams, and low-lying areas should pay the closest attention to flood risks given the historical impact of spring river overflows and seasonal meltwaters.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
53% of Chippewa County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
131 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 16 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 1997, with 79 claims and $1.9M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Severe Flooding, High Winds,severe Storms.
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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Chippewa County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 29, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
15 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 12 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 11, 2023 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2014 | — |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2010 | $345,000 |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2009 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 20, 2002 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 7, 2001 | $300,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 11, 2023. A near-record snowfall season across Minnesota and Wisconsin led to a snowpack with snow-water-equivilent (SWE) values of 4 to 6 inches across much of the region by mid-March. Below normal temperatures for the first of of spring kept much of the snowpack in tact until the end of the month when it started to melt.||The melt accelerated in early April. On April 08, highs were in the 60s across the region. On April 0…
Flood · Mar 17, 2019. There were many factors that led to a severe Spring flood melt along the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers and several of their tributaries during the last two weeks of March. The first factor was above average snowpack, especially over the Minnesota River Valley for mid March. Additionally, the added effect of a cold late Winter kept this snowpack deeper into the early Spring. Once temperatures warmed, and snow be…
Flash Flood · Jun 19, 2014. Several rounds of thunderstorms developed across western and southern Minnesota during the late evening and early morning hours of Thursday, June 19th, and moved eastward through the mid morning hours. Although some of the thunderstorms did produced wind damage near Wintrop, most of the damage was associated with extreme rainfall rates, where flash flooding caused mud slides, road closures, and inundated communiti…
Flood · Mar 23, 2011. Due to a very wet fall, and a deep snow pack by mid March, when temperatures began to rise and melt the snow, area streams, creeks and eventually rivers rose to minor, moderate, and major stage levels. ||During the onset of the snow melt, area streams, creeks and rivers had numerous ice jams that caused flooding across many areas in southern Minnesota. Road closures due to creeks and streams developed as early as…
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 Chippewa 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.