13 flood insurance claims·$71,715 paid·5 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 Crow Wing 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.
Flash flooding and general riverine flooding from summer thunderstorms dominate the flood risk profile in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, supported by 14 recorded flood events and 11 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe summer storm complexes frequently drive these impacts. For example, slow-moving storms and training thunderstorms produced flash flooding near Pine Center in June 2022, while a potent storm system brought multiple rounds of flooding storms to the region in July 2020.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay attention across multiple zones, as the National Flood Insurance Program records claims in both mapped special flood hazard areas and lower-risk zones. In Zone X, 7 claims averaged a payout of $15,841 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. In Zone A, 5 claims averaged a payout of $6,898 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Additionally, 1 claim in unshaded Zone X recorded a $3,500 payout with an average water depth of 1 inch.
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.
The worst year was 2018, with 2 claims and $5,770 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Crow Wing County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 29, 2022 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 14, 2012 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Mn - By-pass Fire - 05/31/2002 | May 31, 2002 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Mar 23, 2001 |
| Severe Thunderstorms, Winds, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Heat | Jul 9, 1995 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Aug 1, 1972 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
25 since 1996: 11 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jul 17, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jul 8, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2016 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2013 | — |
| Flood | May 28, 2012 | — |
| Flood | Jun 20, 2012 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2022. Clear skies through the day with southwesterly flow at the surface lead to rapid heating and moisture advection across the Northland. This lead to the development of thunderstorms during the afternoon hours that were prolific hail producers across the region with the largest hail bring the size of baseballs. Additionally, slow storm movement along with training storms near Pine Center produced some flash flooding.
Flood · Jul 17, 2020. Storms initiated over North Dakota Friday afternoon and congealed into a large storm complex that marched across Minnesota that evening and into the early morning hours. Damaging winds from the storm complex led to downed trees and minor structural damage in parts of north-central and northeast Minnesota.
Flood · Jul 8, 2020. A potent storm system brought multiple rounds of severe storms to the Northland starting during the early morning hours of the 8th. Very little in the way of severe weather was observed with this initial round of storms. A warm front then lifted across the region through the day, bringing a very moist and unstable airmass to the area. Storms begin firing during the afternoon hours ahead of a cold front bringing al…
Flash Flood · Jul 12, 2018. Storms fired ahead of a cold front in a very moist and unstable environment. Storms marched east overnight and featured strong winds, frequent lighting and torrential rainfall that led to flash 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 Crow Wing 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.