195 flood insurance claims·$4.1M 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 Boone 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Boone County, Missouri, accounting for 71 events compared to 13 general flood events over the last 30 years, including one recorded death. Recent activity includes strong to severe storms that produced flash flooding across northern and central Missouri during the early morning hours of August 2, 2023, as well as a cold front that generated rounds of showers, storms, and flash flooding from the evening of June 30 through the morning of July 1, 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in high-risk Zone A face the heaviest impacts, accounting for 128 claims with an average payout of $37,164 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Properties in Zone X, shaded Zone X, unshaded Zone X, and unknown zones have also filed claims, averaging between 2 and 2 inches of recorded water depth with payouts ranging from an average of $1,466 to $28,251.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, where historical claim counts and average water depths are significantly higher than in other zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Boone County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
163 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 36 claims and $551,776 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Boone County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 24, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 22, 2015 |
| Flooding | Jun 1, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
84 since 1996: 71 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2023. Isolated storms developed in an area where dewpoints in the low to mid 70s pooled. There was some weak surface convergence, ML CAPEs over 2000 J/kg, and steep low-level lapse rates, so there were some localized damaging microbursts with the severe storms. An area of storms over northern St. Clair County in Illinois produced up to 5 inches of rain in about a two hour period with some reports of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2023. A swath of strong to severe storms with very heavy rainfall rates moved southeast across portions of northern and central Missouri during the early morning hours of August 2nd. There were several reports of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2021. A composite outflow boundary extending from the Kansas City area towards southeast Missouri was a focus for new development from the evening hours of June 25th through June 26th. There were numerous reports of damaging winds and flash flooding with this event, as well as a tornado.
Flood · Jun 25, 2021. A trough moved southeast through the region, generating a complex of showers and storms. Numerous reports of damaging winds, a few tornadoes and flash flooding were reported with this system.
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 Boone 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.