17 flood insurance claims·$322,358 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 Koochiching 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 11 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 2022, with 9 claims and $278,221 paid, the year of Severe Storms, 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.
3 NOAA storm reports from Koochiching County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 22, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 15, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding And Tornadoes | Jun 9, 2002 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Mar 23, 2001 |
| Flooding And Severe Storms | Mar 14, 1996 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
7 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 10, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2022 | $2.4M |
| Flood | Jun 14, 2014 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2014 | $28,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2010 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2002 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 10, 2022. Spring snowmelt, record April precipitation and frequent May rain events led to strong hydrologic responses within the Rainy Lake basin. Namakan Lake, Kabetogama Lake and Rainy Lake rose above the flood of record during the months of May and June before subsiding in July and returning to levels closer to normal. These high lake levels led to significant damage to homes and businesses along the shoreline along with…
Flood · Jun 1, 2022. Spring snowmelt, record April precipitation and frequent May rain events led to strong hydrologic responses within the Rainy Lake basin. Namakan Lake, Kabetogama Lake and Rainy Lake rose above the flood of record during the months of May and June before subsiding in July and returning to levels closer to normal. These high lake levels led to significant damage to homes and businesses along the shoreline along with…
Flood · Jul 1, 2022. Spring snowmelt, record April precipitation and frequent May rain events led to strong hydrologic responses within the Rainy Lake basin. Namakan Lake, Kabetogama Lake and Rainy Lake rose above the flood of record during the months of May and June before subsiding in July and returning to levels closer to normal. These high lake levels led to significant damage to homes and businesses along the shoreline along with…
Flood · Jun 14, 2014. Weeks of heavy rains over the Rainy Lake Basin caused water levels on Rainy Lake and the Rainy River to rise to levels not seen since the record flood in 1950. The river level at Manitou Rapids was at about 13 feet at the beginning of June, then steadily increased to more than 18 feet by June 15th due to heavy rains over the region. The river level receded for a while to about 15 feet by June 11th, but then quic…
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 Koochiching 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.