112 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Stearns 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 history of Stearns County. According to NOAA Storm Events data from the last 30 years, flash floods occurred in 18 events, compared to 6 general flood events.
Severe events are documented in the historical record. On June 23, 2022, back-building storms produced excessive rainfall amounts up to 7 inches in central Minnesota before rates diminished. A front on June 6, 2015, brought rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour across northern Stearns County between Sauk Centre and Sartell. Spring melt conditions also contribute to flooding, as seen during a severe spring flood melt along regional rivers in March 2019 caused by above-average snowpack and subsequent warming.
Property owners should note claim distributions across FEMA flood zones. Zone A recorded 59 claims with an average payout of $17,190 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Zone X recorded 25 claims with an average payout of $7,129 and an average recorded water depth of 24 inches. Zone X_SHADED recorded 12 claims with an average payout of $4,473 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 9 claims with an average payout of $4,832 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, while the unknown zone recorded 7 claims averaging $16,024 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
26% of Stearns County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
80 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 7 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 1997, with 24 claims and $133,825 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Severe Flooding, High Winds,severe Storms.
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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Stearns County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 8, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 20, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jul 1, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Mar 23, 2001 |
| Severe Flooding, High Winds,severe Storms | Mar 21, 1997 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Jan 3, 1997 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
24 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 18, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 6, 2015 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 31, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2011 | $100,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 23, 2025. Several clusters of storms moved from central South Dakota into Minnesota during the morning, then more widespread coverage of storms developed and persisted throughout much of the day. The main axis of heavy rainfall was tied to a slow moving boundary that started across central Minnesota in the morning and progressed towards southern Minnesota by the late evening.||While many locations saw heavy rainfall amounts…
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2022. During the late afternoon, and early evening of Thursday, June 23rd, a small complex of storms developed in central Minnesota. These storms were developing along an 850mb confluent boundary with an above normal plume of PWATs of 1.25. Due to a high freezing level, a sounding profile suggesting efficient warm-rain processes dominated. With back-building storms across central Minnesota, rainfall amounts were excess…
Flood · Mar 18, 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 · Jun 6, 2015. During the evening of Saturday, June 6th, a front was moving slowly southeast across central and west central Minnesota. A line of showers and thunderstorms was developing along it as it sagged to the east-southeast. Between 9 and 10:30 PM LST, there was one band of very heavy rainfall, with rates of 1-2 inches per hour, that was moving across northern Stearns County. By midnight, almost all of northern Stearns Co…
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 Stearns 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.