78 flood insurance claims·$3.6M paid·5 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 Rice 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 historical flood profile of Rice County, accounting for 18 of the 26 recorded flood events over the last 30 years. Storm patterns in the area are driven by slow-moving thunderstorm complexes and moisture-laden troughs, such as the storms that produced flash flooding on April 17, 2019, and June 26, 2025.
Federal insurance data underscores the vulnerability of properties both inside and outside high-risk zones. Properties located in FEMA Zone A experienced 47 claims with an average payout of $90,623 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 26 claims with an average payout of $20,508 and an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone X unshaded properties saw 4 claims averaging $27,101 with an average water depth of 14 inches. One claim was recorded in Zone X shaded, with an average payout of $5,780 and an average water depth of 16 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within designated high-risk Zone A areas where flood claims involve the deepest water and highest costs, while remaining aware that moderate-risk Zone X properties also face verified flood loss potential.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Rice County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
52 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 15 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 14 claims and $549,081 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Rice County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 14, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 22, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Mar 23, 2001 |
| Severe Storms, Straight Line Winds, And Tornadoes | May 15, 1998 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
26 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 17, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Sep 22, 2016 | $700,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2013 | $2.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2012 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2025. A large scale mid-to-upper-level trough was moving across the northern plains on the afternoon of June 26th. Immediately ahead of this progressing wave was a mesoscale convective vortex moving out of the Missouri River Valley. Ahead of this MCV was a warm front that supplied sufficient shear and low-level moisture across southern Minnesota into northern Iowa. A low topped supercell developed within a line of thund…
Flood · Jun 29, 2020. During the evening of Sunday, June 28th, a complex of thunderstorms that developed across Iowa previously, moved slowly northward across southern Minnesota before stalling in central Minnesota Monday morning. Before the torrential rain began in south central Minnesota, a few of the storms caused minor damage to a home in Sibley County. ||Deep moisture convergence along the axis of thunderstorms, training along the…
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 Rice 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.