279 flood insurance claims·$3.4M paid·16 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 Roseau 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 Roseau County is characterized by a nearly even mix of flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and longer-term river flooding. NOAA records document snowmelt flooding along Minnesota tributaries that began in mid-April 2023 and persisted into early May. Severe summer weather also drives flash flooding, such as the hot, humid conditions and thunderstorm development that occurred on July 16, 2011, and the warm front progression that triggered heavy rainfall on May 24, 2010.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood impacts are heavily concentrated in Zone A, which accounts for 252 claims with an average payout of $16,108 and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches. Moderate claims have also occurred in Zone X (15 claims, average payout of $19,822, average water depth of 0 inches), Zone X Unshaded (6 claims, average payout of $19,007, average water depth of 6 inches), Zone X Shaded (5 claims, average payout of $6,348, average water depth of 24 inches), and Zone Unknown (1 claim, average payout of $1,021, average water depth of 1 inch).
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A due to the high concentration of claims, as well as properties situated near tributaries and areas susceptible to spring snowmelt and heavy summer convective rainfall.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Roseau County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
263 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 16 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 2002, with 266 claims and $3.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes.
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.
6 NOAA storm reports from Roseau County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 16 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 22, 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 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2009 |
| Flooding | Mar 30, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
23 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 20, 2019 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2011 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2010 | $2,000 |
| Flood | May 26, 2009 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Mar 22, 2009 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2009 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Mar 31, 2006 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 14, 2023. Snowmelt flooding along the Minnesota Tributaries began in mid-April, with a few locations persisting into early May.
Flash Flood · Sep 20, 2019. By the late afternoon of the 20th, a weak area of surface low pressure set up near Devils Lake, with the warm front extending out to the east-southeast. Temperatures had risen into the mid 70s to low 80s in the warm sector, with dew points in the upper 60s to lower 70s. To the southwest of the low, a cold front extended back toward Bismarck. Just before 5 pm CDT, a fairly solid line of thunderstorms developed alon…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2011. The 16th was hot and humid with late afternoon temperatures topping out in the 80s to around 90 and dew point temperatures well into the 70s. This created a large amount of instability. By early in the evening, thunderstorms began to flare up again aided by a weak low level jet.
Flash Flood · May 24, 2010. After the first round of elevated convection from the early morning hours of the 24th drifted off to the northeast, a surface warm front was left along the North Dakota and South Dakota border by mid morning. By mid afternoon of the 24th, the warm front had pushed north to a Jamestown (ND) to Bemidji (MN) line. Behind this front, afternoon temperatures had increased to around 90 degrees with dew points in the mid…
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 Roseau 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.