9 flood insurance claims·$111,206 paid·6 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 Waseca 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 risk profile in Waseca County, which recorded 18 flash flood events compared to 11 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include a slow-moving system in May 2023 that caused street and small stream flooding in and near New Richland, and heavy rainfall of 5 to 10 inches over a 72-hour period in August 2025 that led to flooded roadways and damaged buildings with the highest widespread impacts centered in the county.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate historical claims across multiple zones. Properties in Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 6 claims with an average payout of $22,207 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone X recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $170 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, while Zone A recorded 1 claim with a $0 average payout and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located in unshaded Zone X and standard Zone X, which accounted for the vast majority of historical insurance claims and payouts in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 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 2016, with 3 claims and $19,360 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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Waseca County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 16, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 22, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Jan 3, 1997 |
| Severe Ice Storm | Nov 14, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
29 since 1996: 18 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Sep 22, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 17, 2025. Several individual rounds of thunderstorms impacted southern Minnesota from Friday, August 16th through Sunday, August 18th. Heavy rain amounts on the order of 5-10 inches fell over the course of 72 hours, most of which fell from late Saturday into early Sunday, leading to several cases of flooded roadways and damaged buildings. The highest amounts and most widespread impacts were across Waseca County.
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2024. Catastrophic flooding occurred across parts of Minnesota in mid to late June 2024 as a stationary boundary stalled out across the Upper Midwest.||On June 19-21, several rounds of thunderstorms developed and tracked along this boundary, producing widespread 4 to 6 inches of rain across southern Minnesota, with some locations picking up 8 to 10 inches of rain near Mankato Minnesota.||There were dozens, if not hundre…
Flash Flood · May 11, 2023. A slow moving system produced thunderstorms and heavy precipitation in the Trough of Warm Air Aloft (TROWAL) region of an upper low over South Central Minnesota. Due to the prolonged duration of heavy rainfall across the region, some localities experienced localized urban flash flooding. Waseca Emergency Managment reported street and small stream flooding 3 Miles NNW of New Richland, MN as well as in town. ||Overa…
Flash Flood · Jul 5, 2019. An afternoon intensifying mesoscale convective system that moved from southeast South Dakota, eastward across southern Minnesota during the late afternoon and evening of Friday, July 5th, produced sporadic wind damage around Arlington, southeast to Henderson, Minnesota. Two brief tornadoes occurred. Part of a roof was blown off in Arlington, but it wasn't enough to determine whether it was a tornado or a severe do…
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 Waseca 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.