45 flood insurance claims·$901,735 paid·8 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 Freeborn 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 from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood character of Freeborn County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 16 flash flood events resulting in 3 deaths, alongside 12 general flood events. Recent activity includes a June 2024 event involving catastrophic flooding and widespread road washouts from heavy rainfall, as well as heavy rainfall and flash flooding threats during a July 2022 thunderstorm complex.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims are distributed across multiple zones, with varying average water depths and payouts. Zone A accounts for 15 claims with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches and an average payout of $31,044. Properties designated as Zone UNKNOWN recorded 12 claims with an average water depth of 1 inch and an average payout of $3,776. Zone X recorded 9 claims with an average water depth of 5 inches and an average payout of $56,881. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 9 claims with an average water depth of 35 inches and an average payout of $5,738.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone X, which recorded the highest average payout, and Zone X_UNSHADED, which experienced the deepest average recorded water depth of 35 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
38% of Freeborn County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
24 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 10 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 1993, with 7 claims and $49,388 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes & 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Freeborn County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 20, 2013 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 22, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 17, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 6, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 12 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2022 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Sep 22, 2016 | $280,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2014 | $625,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2013 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 16, 2025. Multiple rounds of storms produced several cases of large hail and funnel clouds, as well as two tornadoes in Nicollet county during the afternoon and evening on Monday, June 16th. The largest reported hail (3.25 inches) occurred with a storm the developed over McLeod county and quickly strengthened over Carver county. There was also significant wind damage in the St Cloud area.
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2025. Multiple rounds of storms produced several cases of large hail and funnel clouds, as well as two tornadoes in Nicollet county during the afternoon and evening on Monday, June 16th. The largest reported hail (3.25 inches) occurred with a storm the developed over McLeod county and quickly strengthened over Carver county. There was also significant wind damage in the St Cloud area.
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2024. Catastrophic flooding occurred across parts of Minnesota in mid to late June 2024 as a stationary boundary stalled out across the Upper Midwest.||On June 19-21, several rounds of thunderstorms developed and tracked along this boundary, producing widespread 4 to 6 inches of rain across southern Minnesota, with some locations picking up 8 to 10 inches of rain near Mankato Minnesota.||There were dozens, if not hundre…
Flash Flood · Jul 5, 2022. During the afternoon of Tuesday, July 5th, a complex of thunderstorms moved from South Dakota, eastward along a stationary front that lied near the Iowa border. North of this front, several lines of thunderstorms developed and moved eastward across far southern Minnesota. Although a few damage reports were noted, the main hazard was the increasing threat of heavy rainfall and flash flooding. Two areas of thunderst…
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 Freeborn 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.