43 flood insurance claims·$469,632 paid·6 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 Cottonwood 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 from sustained heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Cottonwood County, backed by 46 recorded flood events and 11 flash flood events over the last thirty years.
Recent history underscores this hazard. A multi-day heavy rainfall event from June 20 to 22, 2024, brought 5 to 10 inches of rain across southwest Minnesota, causing major to record river flooding, widespread overland flooding, and a Presidential Disaster Declaration. Elevated river levels from this historic event persisted above flood stage into July 2024.
Property owners in mapped flood zones should pay the closest attention to these risks. National Flood Insurance Program records show that Zone A properties experienced 33 claims with an average payout of $12,561 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties experienced 9 claims with an average payout of $24,024 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Cottonwood County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
34 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 2 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 2024, with 23 claims and $286,400 paid, the year of 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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Cottonwood County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 8, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 15, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Apr 9, 2013 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 22, 2010 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
57 since 1996: 11 flash floods and 46 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | $20.7M |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 14, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Apr 12, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 6, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 4, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 21, 2024. A multi-day significant heavy rainfall event from June 20-22 resulted in widespread rain totals between 5 and 10 inches across southwest Minnesota. As rainfall reached area streams and rivers, major to record flooding was observed, devastating multiple towns and communities. Extensive overland flooding also resulted in significant impacts and damages. All river crest information is preliminary until made official…
Flood · Jul 1, 2024. River levels from the historic June flooding remained above flood stage for some locations into July, although continued a declining trend.
Flood · May 14, 2023. Occasional moderate to heavy rainfall resulted in amounts from 5 to 9 inches in the northeast corner of Cottonwood County over a three-day period resulting in significant rural flooding, and some adjacent urban impacts into Comfrey on the morning of May 14.
Flood · Apr 12, 2023. Rapid snowmelt from a few day period of well above normal temperatures focused on the 11-13th of April resulted in minor to locally moderate flooding through much of the Big Sioux River Basin. Some areas north of I-90 lost between 2 to 5 inches of snow water equivalent (SWE) from the first to second week of April, but antecedent drought conditions resulted in only a percentage of this water actually making it into…
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 Cottonwood 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.