19 flood insurance claims·$102,507 paid·9 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 McLeod 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 profile of McLeod County, alongside general river flooding events. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 18 flash flood events and 9 flood events. Severe weather impacts are exemplified by an April 2023 flood resulting from a near-record snowfall season and accelerated spring snowmelt, as well as heavy rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour during severe thunderstorms in August 2016.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 10 claims with an average payout of $7,243 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X records 7 claims with an average payout of $3,714 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, alongside 1 claim in Zone X_UNSHADED with a $30,000 average payout and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. An additional claim in Zone UNKNOWN averaged a $6,954 payout with an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents representing properties in Zone A and Zone X should pay close attention to these historical flood and flash flood patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
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 2014, with 3 claims and $32,092 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides.
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 McLeod County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 9 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, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 20, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jul 1, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
27 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 11, 2023 | $18,500 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2016 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2013 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2013 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2012 | — |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2010 | $190,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Aug 10, 2016. Several waves of thunderstorms moved across central and southern Minnesota, and into west central Wisconsin between the late afternoon of Wednesday, August 10th, through Thursday morning, August 11th. A few of the storms produced large hail and severe wind gusts as several bow echoes formed. However, the main hazard became the extremely heavy rainfall with bouts of rainfall rates as high as 2 to 3 inches per hour.…
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2013. Isolated severe storms near Redwood Falls and Albert Lea moved northeast across east central and southeast Minnesota during the early morning hours of Sunday, June 23rd. After 2 am, a line of severe storms developed across southwest Minnesota and raced eastward rapidly and produced occasional large hail and damaging wind gusts across southern Minnesota. Due to several rounds of thunderstorms moving across the reg…
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2013. Two rounds of severe thunderstorms occurred across portions of southern and central Minnesota, between Friday afternoon, June 21st and early Saturday morning, June 22nd. These storms first developed across central South Dakota and moved into west central Minnesota after 4 pm, causing large hail, damaging winds and torrential rainfall. ||These storms weakened briefly in central Minnesota, before re-intensifying acr…
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 McLeod 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.