16 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Watonwan 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 floods and general floods occur with nearly equal frequency, driven by intense summer thunderstorm complexes and spring snowmelt. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 10 flash flood events and 9 flood events. For example, severe spring snowmelt caused flooding during late March 2019 following an above-average winter snowpack and subsequent storms. Additionally, severe weather brought significant flooding to the town of St. James when over 5 inches of rain fell in western Watonwan County on August 21, 2014, and catastrophic flooding occurred in June 2024 due to a stationary boundary producing widespread heavy rainfall.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones. Properties in Zone A experienced 7 claims with an average payout of $143,263 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X recorded 8 claims with an average payout of $66,700 and an average water depth of 5 inches, while Zone X unshaded logged 1 claim averaging $149,712 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Residents and property owners in designated flood hazard areas, such as Zone A and Zone X, should pay the closest attention to these risks.
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 3 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 2024, with 7 claims and $880,327 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.
3 NOAA storm reports from Watonwan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
13 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, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 15, 2018 |
| 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 Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding | May 6, 1993 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
19 since 1996: 10 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 16, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 16, 2014 | — |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2010 | — |
| Flood | Sep 23, 2010 | $3.9M |
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2010 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flood · Mar 16, 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 · Aug 21, 2014. Several waves of thunderstorms moved across southern Minnesota during the morning of Thursday, August 21st. Rainfall amounts of over 5 inches occurred in western Watonwan County, with significant flooding in the town of St. James.
Flash Flood · Jun 16, 2014. The afternoon of Monday, June 16th, two major thunderstorm complexes across Nebraska and South Dakota, congealed into one along the Minnesota, Iowa border from Sioux Falls, eastward along I-90 to Fairmont and Albert Lea. Some of the severe storms moved north of I-90 and produced wind and hail as far north as Mankato, Waseca and Owatonna. Wind gusts in excess of 60 to 70 mph were clocked in these areas and produce…
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 Watonwan 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.