223 flood insurance claims·$2.0M 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 Wright 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 and general flooding dominate the flood profile of Wright County, Minnesota, supported by 13 flash flood events and 10 general flood events over the past 30 years in the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent flooding has been driven by severe weather patterns, such as storms in June 2025 and a severe spring snowmelt flood along regional rivers and tributaries in March 2019, which was exacerbated by above-average snowpack and a cold late winter.
Federal insurance claims data shows that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the highest volume of claims with 153 filings averaging a $14,756 payout and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Properties in Zone X and unknown zones also experience impacts, including 24 claims in Zone X averaging an $8,239 payout with an average 3 inches of water, and 26 claims in unknown zones averaging a $14,773 payout with an average 2 inches of water. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within designated high-risk riverine and flash flood zones, as well as properties in unshaded or unknown zones where flood insurance claims indicate consistent historical water damage.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Wright County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
173 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 4 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 1986, with 45 claims and $342,226 paid.
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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Wright County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Minnesota flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jun 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 16, 2011 |
| Flooding | Mar 1, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding And Tornadoes | Jun 9, 2002 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Mar 23, 2001 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, High Winds, Flooding | Jun 28, 1997 |
| Severe Flooding, High Winds,severe Storms | Mar 21, 1997 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
23 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2014 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2013 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2010 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2005 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 28, 2025. Scattered storms developed near the South Dakota and Minnesota border during the early evening on June 28th, then quickly strengthened into discrete supercells as they progressed into west central Minnesota. These storms produced scattered reports of large hail, thunderstorm wind damage, and three tornadoes. ||As the evening progressed, the supercells merged into clusters and eventually into long line that produce…
Flood · Mar 17, 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 · Jul 23, 2016. Thunderstorms that developed across Nebraska, South Dakota and western Iowa early Saturday morning, July 23rd, moved northeast into southern and western Minnesota during the morning. Although most of the damage was associated with uprooted trees and occasional severe wind gusts, flash flooding became more apparent during the afternoon along with a few large hail reports. ||Most of the reports of tree damage occurr…
Flood · Jun 18, 2014. Several rounds of thunderstorms began during the week of June 14th, and continued through most of the week with areas of flash flooding. The flash flooding evolved into areal flooding, and then main-stem river flooding which continued through the end of the month. The hardest hit areas were from New Ulm to Mankato, northeast through the length of the Minnesota River, and the Twin Cities Metro area which had major…
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 Wright 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.