12 flood insurance claims·$143,998 paid·8 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 Swift 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 1 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 7 claims and $105,156 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.
1 NOAA storm reports from Swift County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 29, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 20, 2013 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
13 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 17, 2010 | — |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2009 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2006 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 25, 2005 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 7, 2001 | $500,000 |
| Flood | May 1, 2001 | — |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2001 | — |
| Flood | Aug 19, 1998 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 17, 2010. Accumulating snowfall across the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains was extensive during the 2009/2010 winter with snowfall water equivalent amounts across the Minnesota River Valley as high as six inches. Across the Mississippi River Valley and the Crow, snowfall water equivalent amounts were between three and five inches. ||The winter had very little melting on the snow cover and therefore, once temperatures in M…
Flood · Mar 23, 2009. A strong area of low pressure moved northward across the upper midwest and combined with unseasonable early Spring gulf moisture to cause a large area of heavy rainfall. Local rainfall totals were in the two to three inch range before the system moved north of the region. Along with the heavy rainfall, and due to thick ice remaining on areal streams, creeks and rivers, ice jams developed and caused flooding of are…
Flash Flood · Apr 7, 2001. The same intense low pressure system that brought high wind to southern Minnesota also dumped a large area of 3 to 4 inches rain across west central and central Minnesota, on top of melting snow and saturated ground. Drainage ditches, still clogged with snow, were unable to accept most of this rain water. About 3000 homes in Stearns County and 500 homes in Benton County sustained water damage to basements. Sever…
Flood · Apr 1, 2001. Heavy snowfall during winter remained on the ground through the end of March and then rapidly melted, resulting in river stages close to record levels. Water began to gush through drainage ditches, streams and into the mainstem rivers during midday April 1. Heavy rain April 7-8 over much of central Minnesota (see corresponding flood entry) prolonged the high water and also added one or two feet to many crests dur…
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 Swift 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.