183 flood insurance claims·$1.8M 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 St. Louis 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 St. Louis County, Minnesota, accounting for 89 of the 113 total flood events recorded in the NOAA Storm Events Database over the last 30 years, alongside 19 general flood events and 5 lakeshore flood events. Recent severe weather is exemplified by conditions on June 16, 2025, when an area of low pressure moving from eastern South Dakota toward Lake Superior lifted a warm front into central Minnesota, generating unstable air and heavy morning thunderstorms. A subsequent complex of storms on June 21, 2025, brought large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts affect properties across multiple zones. Zone A leads in total claims with 89 filed, resulting in an average payout of $16,593 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 34 claims with an average payout of $22,589 and an average recorded water depth of 20 inches, and Zone UNKNOWN logged 33 claims with an average payout of $1,982 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within high-risk Zone A and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas, where claim frequencies and average water depths are most pronounced.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
23% of St. Louis County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
116 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 10 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 2012, with 57 claims and $988,297 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.
61 NOAA storm reports from St. Louis County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Munger Shaw Fire | May 12, 2025 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 22, 2022 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 15, 2018 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 14, 2012 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
113 since 1996: 89 flash floods, 19 river or area floods and 5 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jun 19, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2024 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 23, 2025. Severe storms moved across northeastern Minnesota the morning of the 23rd ahead of a cold front. Storms began in Cass County where they produced tree damage and a measured gust of 64 mph in Walker. As they moved to the northeast, they lost their strength, but became heavy rain producers which led to some minor flooding in the city of Ely during the late morning hours.
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2025. A complex of thunderstorms moved across the Northland the night of the 20th into the 21st. A warm front was draped across the region and led to a first round of storms moving to the northeast. This was quickly followed by an eastward moving line of storms. Large to very large hail was seen with the first line of storms including a 3 inch hail report just south of Grand Rapids. The second line was more of a damagin…
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2025. An area of low pressure moved from eastern South Dakota to Lake Superior on the 16th. As the low tracked to the northeast, it lifted a warm front into central Minnesota. To the south of the warm front and to the east of a cold front, a very warm and moist unstable airmass was in place. Morning thunderstorms across the region left cloud cover in place over much of the Northland, but areas of clearing were able to d…
Flood · Jun 19, 2024. On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, a stationary surface front, in conjunction with an anomalously moist airmass over the Northland, resulting in widespread flash flooding. NWS Duluth issued seven Flash Flood Warnings (across much of NE MN and the Bayfield Peninsula), three of which were upgraded to include a considerable tag for life threatening flash flooding. Additionally, severe thunderstorms occurred ahead of the heav…
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 St. Louis 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.