682 flood insurance claims·$4.6M paid·7 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 Hennepin 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 risk profile in Hennepin County, Minnesota, accounting for the vast majority of recorded flood events over the last 30 years compared to general floods.
Recent historical data illustrates this threat. On June 16, 2025, multiple rounds of storms produced large hail, funnel clouds, and tornadoes. Shortly after, on June 25, 2025, strong surface heating and a lifting warm front brought high dew points, instability, and scattered thunderstorms that caused flash flooding across western and east-central Minnesota.
Property owners and real estate professionals should note that insurance claims and payouts occur across both designated high-risk and moderate-to-low-risk areas. Specifically, properties in FEMA Zone A recorded 247 claims with an average water depth of 4 inches and an average payout of $11,616. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 190 claims with an average water depth of 5 inches and an average payout of $12,822, and Zone X Unshaded recorded 114 claims averaging 5 inches of water depth and a $13,096 payout. Consequently, homeowners and real estate agents in both designated flood zones and standard unshaded zones should pay close attention to local drainage and flood preparation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
37% of Hennepin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
390 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 4 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 1987, with 114 claims and $1.2M 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Hennepin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| 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 Tornadoes | May 21, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Bridge Collapse | Aug 1, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Mar 23, 2001 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
62 since 1996: 52 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2025. A warm front lifted north into southern Minnesota on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 25th. Strong surface heating to the south of the front with dew points in the 70s allowed for ample instability to develop across the area. Scattered thunderstorms developed in response to the instability and flash flooding occurred in western and east central MN. Strong low-level shear allowed these low-topped supercells to rot…
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 · Jul 16, 2019. Thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of Tuesday July 16th across southern Minnesota. A few storms developed over the Twin Cities metro area and produced torrential rainfall, and flash flooding around the west, and southwest side of the downtown Minneapolis area.
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2019. Several clusters of thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of Monday, July 15th in central Minnesota. A few storms also developed ahead of the storms in central Minnesota, and became severe west of the Twin Cities. Hail stones as large as 2 inches in diameter were reported around Delano, and the western suburbs of the Twin Cities. By the late afternoon, and into the evening, these storms become more wind pro…
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 Hennepin 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.