517 flood insurance claims·$10.1M paid·3 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 Butler 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 and river flooding from severe thunderstorms equally dominate the flood character of Butler County, with a combined 116 recorded flood and flash flood events causing eight deaths over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this risk, including heavy rainfall and thunderstorms that produced water ponding in Poplar Bluff on July 7, 2025. Additionally, training heavy rainfall dropped 3 to 5 inches across much of the county on June 26, 2024, stranding vehicles in Poplar Bluff and leaving half a foot of water in a high school hallway following a severe weather outbreak earlier that month on May 26, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A should pay the closest attention, as this zone accounts for the vast majority of claims with 437 filings resulting in an average payout of $25,488 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. However, property owners in lower-risk zones must also remain vigilant; claims have been filed across Zone X with an average payout of $23,365 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches, Zone X_SHADED with an average payout of $30,458 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, Zone X_UNSHADED with an average payout of $10,868 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, and unknown zones averaging $10,837 with an average recorded water depth of 8 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Butler County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
458 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 5 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 2008, with 158 claims and $4.3M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Flooding, and A Tornado.
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.
52 NOAA storm reports from Butler County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 22, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
116 since 1996: 58 flash floods and 58 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 17, 2022 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 7, 2025. A west to east line of thunderstorms moving southward through Southeast Missouri produced heavy rainfall during the afternoon of the 7th. Very high precipitable water values near 2.0 helped fuel the downpours, which produced ponding of water in Poplar Bluff.
Flood · May 27, 2024. The second major severe weather outbreak for the month occurred on the 26th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave trough centered in the middle of the country with a 60 kt mid-level jet moved across northern Arkansas. A weak surface low was moving into SE Missouri during the morning with a secondary low located further northwest. A warm frontal boundary was draped across our area. A bowing…
Flash Flood · May 26, 2024. The second major severe weather outbreak for the month occurred on the 26th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave trough centered in the middle of the country with a 60 kt mid-level jet moved across northern Arkansas. A weak surface low was moving into SE Missouri during the morning with a secondary low located further northwest. A warm frontal boundary was draped across our area. A bowing…
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2024. Training heavy rainfall through the morning hours in Southeast Missouri resulted in 3 to 5 inches of rainfall in much of Butler County and portions of Wayne, Bollinger, and Stoddard Counties. Considerable flash flooding issues developed in Poplar Bluff, which had vehicles stranded in several areas and up to half a foot of water in a high school hallway. MLCAPE was around 500 J/kg, precipitable water was 1.9-2.2 in…
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 Butler 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.