38 flood insurance claims·$312,964 paid·2 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 Benton 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.
Flash flooding from severe thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Benton County, Missouri, accounting for the majority of local flood events and all recorded fatalities over the last 30 years. NOAA records document significant events during storms in May 2024 and June 2025, when approaching surface low pressure systems, frontal boundaries, and moist airmasses produced heavy rainfall rates, damaging winds, golf ball-sized hail, and subsequent flash flooding.
Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration data shows that historical flood insurance claims are heavily concentrated in designated special flood hazard areas. Properties located in Zone A account for the vast majority of local claims, with 33 filed averaging a payout of $12,202 and a recorded average water depth of 24 inches. A minimal number of claims occurred in zones categorized as UNKNOWN or Zone X, with average payouts of $2,641 and $0, respectively, and average water depths of 2 inches or less.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A, where historical data demonstrates the highest frequency of claims, significant average water depths, and the greatest financial payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Benton County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
33 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 21 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 13 claims and $237,647 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.
31 NOAA storm reports from Benton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 15, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 8, 2007 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 12, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
129 since 1996: 94 flash floods and 35 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2023 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 4, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 12, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jul 30, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 4, 2025. A very moist airmass led to the development of thunderstorms with heavy rainfall rates during the morning and afternoon of June 4th. Significant flash flooding occurred in and around the city of Marshfield. Additional heavy rainfall caused flooding into the evening and overnight hours with some areas picking up two day totals of 3-5 inches.
Flash Flood · May 8, 2024. Two rounds of severe thunderstorms occurred on May 8, 2024. The first round occurred during the morning and early afternoon hours as a surface low pressure system approached the area from the southwest, pushing a strong frontal boundary and shortwave energy/lift into the region. For this round, thunderstorms were more elevated in nature, producing hail up to golf ball size, damaging winds, and flash flooding due t…
Flash Flood · Aug 1, 2023. Thunderstorms which developed across northwestern Missouri moved south and east across central Missouri during the evening of the first and into the overnight hours. Storms began to train across the region producing rainfall amount from 2 to 4 inches with a few local readings as much as 6 inches. This rainfall produced flooding across the region along with isolated wind damage to trees and power lines.
Flood · May 5, 2022. A stalled front from the storm a system on May 2-3 moved northward back into the Ozarks as a warm front as a strong upper level low over southern Colorado moved eastward into the southern Plains. This led to another several rounds of widespread heavy rainfall that occurred from the late morning of the 4th to the early morning of the 6th, when the surface low exited the area. Widespread accumulations of two to five…
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 Benton 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.