45 flood insurance claims·$224,358 paid·10 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 Lac qui Parle 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.
Standard river flooding dominates the flood history of Lac qui Parle County, backed by 14 recorded flood events compared to 3 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Seasonal spring snowmelt drives much of this activity. For example, a severe spring melt occurred on March 17, 2019, driven by an above-average snowpack and a cold late winter that kept snow deep into early spring before temperatures warmed. Another significant spring melt occurred on April 11, 2023, following a near-record snowfall season with high snow-water-equivalent values that melted rapidly after temperatures rose into the 60s and 70s in early April.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in FEMA Zone A have experienced the highest impact with 35 claims averaging a $7,220 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded 6 claims with an average $2,033 payout and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 2 claims averaging an $8,450 payout with an average water depth of 3 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 1 claim averaging $2,352 with a 4-inch average water depth, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 1 claim with a $0 payout and 0 inches of recorded water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in Zone A and near rivers or streams should pay the closest attention to flood risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Lac qui Parle County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
38 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 6 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 1997, with 29 claims and $183,087 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Severe Flooding, High Winds,severe Storms.
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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Lac qui Parle County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 29, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Nov 27, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
17 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 11, 2023 | $260,000 |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2019 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Mar 21, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2010 | $515,000 |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2009 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2007 | $425,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2007 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. Scattered storms developed near the South Dakota and Minnesota border during the early evening on June 28th, then quickly strengthened into discrete supercells as they progressed into west central Minnesota. These storms produced scattered reports of large hail, thunderstorm wind damage, and three tornadoes. ||As the evening progressed, the supercells merged into clusters and eventually into long line that produce…
Flood · Apr 11, 2023. A near-record snowfall season across Minnesota and Wisconsin led to a snowpack with snow-water-equivilent (SWE) values of 4 to 6 inches across much of the region by mid-March. Below normal temperatures for the first of of spring kept much of the snowpack in tact until the end of the month when it started to melt.||The melt accelerated in early April. On April 08, highs were in the 60s across the region. On April 0…
Flood · Mar 17, 2019. There were many factors that led to a severe Spring flood melt along the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers and several of their tributaries during the last two weeks of March. The first factor was above average snowpack, especially over the Minnesota River Valley for mid March. Additionally, the added effect of a cold late Winter kept this snowpack deeper into the early Spring. Once temperatures warmed, and snow be…
Flood · Mar 21, 2011. Due to a very wet fall, and a deep snow pack by mid March, when temperatures began to rise and melt the snow, area streams, creeks and eventually rivers rose to minor, moderate, and major stage levels. ||During the onset of the snow melt, area streams, creeks and rivers had numerous ice jams that caused flooding across many areas in southern Minnesota. Road closures due to creeks and streams developed as early as…
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 Lac qui Parle 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.