146 flood insurance claims·$4.7M 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 Atchison County, Missouri. 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.
River flooding driven by heavy precipitation and snowmelt dominates the flood risk profile in Atchison County, with NOAA records showing 36 flood events compared to 11 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe impacts along the Missouri River are documented in recent historical narratives. In March 2019, heavy snowmelt and rainfall caused significant flooding and levee breaches along the Missouri River. This high water persisted through April, May, and June 2019, resulting in record flooding that kept some locations in major flood stages for several weeks.
Property owners located near rivers and within FEMA-designated Zone A face the highest risk and should pay the closest attention to this hazard. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of historical insurance claims in the county, totaling 138 claims with an average payout of $42,986 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. By comparison, Zone X and unshaded Zone X areas recorded significantly fewer claims, with average water depths of 1 inch.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Atchison County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
144 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 6 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 1993, with 53 claims and $483,075 paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Atchison County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 11, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Sep 9, 2014 |
| Flooding | Jun 1, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 12, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
47 since 1996: 11 flash floods and 36 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 9, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2016 | — |
| Flood | May 30, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jul 18, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jun 11, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 9, 2019. Several months of heavy snow across the Northern Plains set the stage for a significant and catastrophic flooding event when temperatures warmed and heavy rain fell across Nebraska and the Dakotas. While the more significant damage occurred across eastern Nebraska several counties along the Missouri River and Northern and Central Missouri also saw some significant impacts. Numerous locations along the Missouri Riv…
Flood · May 1, 2019. Heavy late winter and spring precipitation, mixed with a loaded snow pack caused the Missouri River to flood in March. Consistent heavy rains continued the Missouri River flooding into and through May. Some locations along the Missouri River were in major flood for several weeks as heavy rains continued.
Flood · Jun 1, 2019. Heavy late winter and spring precipitation, mixed with a loaded snow pack caused the Missouri River to flood in March. Consistent heavy rains continued the Missouri River flooding into and through June. Some locations along the Missouri River were in major flood for several weeks as heavy rains continued. While the flooding continued through June, there was some gradual and steady improvement across the Missouri R…
Flood · Apr 1, 2019. The flooding that began in mid March along the Missouri River continued through April and into May. Some areas experienced record flooding from this event, and several levees broke within the time span of this event.
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 Atchison 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.