87 flood insurance claims·$2.6M paid·11 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 Le Sueur 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.
Flood risk in Le Sueur County is characterized by a nearly even mix of riverine flooding and heavy-rain flash flooding, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 13 general flood events and 11 flash flood events over the last 30 years. These events are often driven by seasonal snowmelt combined with spring storms, such as the severe spring melt along river tributaries in March 2019, or by anomalously moist summer atmospheres producing efficient heavy rainfall, such as the flash flood events in July and April 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that property risk extends across multiple designated zones, though impacts vary significantly by location. Properties located in FEMA Zone A experienced the highest frequency and severity, totaling 67 claims with an average payout of $46,341 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Meanwhile, properties designated as Zone X recorded 16 claims with an average payout of $13,486 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, alongside a small number of claims in unknown and unshaded zones.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within FEMA Zone A, which face the most severe historical flood depths and claim payouts, while recognizing that properties in Zone X also carry measurable, lower-depth flood risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Le Sueur County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
68 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 13 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 2024, with 23 claims and $1.6M paid, the year of Severe Storms 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Le Sueur County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 11 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 And Flooding | Mar 16, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 22, 2010 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
24 since 1996: 11 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 25, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 17, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Sep 22, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2014 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2014 | $1.1M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 25, 2020. A very anomalous moist atmosphere was in place for this flash flood event to develop. Precipitable water values (PWATs) were over 2 inches across southern Minnesota which is well over climatological normals. The 2.25 inches of precipitable water tallied from the 7 PM weather balloon launch at Chanhassen was just below record record levels for the day and was above the 95th percentile for this time of year. ||There…
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…
Flash Flood · Apr 17, 2019. During the morning of Wednesday, April 17th, a large area of showers developed across southern Minnesota. Several embedded thunderstorms developed after sunrise and moved across south central, and into southeast and east central Minnesota. A very anomalous moist atmosphere was in place, and rainfall was very efficient. Several of the storms moved across the same areas from Mankato to St. Peter, and New Prague, whi…
Flood · Sep 22, 2016. On the evening of September 20th, a warm front was stretched west to east across southern Minnesota originating from a developing low pressure system across the South Dakota and Nebraska border. The weather pattern, and associated boundaries were nearly stationary through early Thursday morning, September 22nd. The atmosphere was very moist, which was evident in the soundings as near record high Precipitable Water…
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 Le Sueur 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.