125 flood insurance claims·$6.1M paid·5 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 Crawford 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 heavy summer thunderstorms and intense rain events dominates the flood profile of Crawford County, Missouri, accounting for 30 out of 38 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 8 general floods and 1 recorded fatality. Historic high-water events are documented in the NOAA database, including a spring storm system in May 2017 that produced rainfall totals surpassing nine inches and record flooding along the Meramec River, as well as heavy rain and flash flooding events in July 2020 and April 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks impact multiple zones differently across the county. Zone A properties account for 77 claims with an average payout of $32,307 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties account for 40 claims with a significantly higher average payout of $103,009 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and Zone X, where claims data show substantial average payouts and significant recorded water depths during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Crawford County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
83 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 17 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 2017, with 22 claims and $1.8M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds and 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Crawford County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Nov 3, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 15, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 8, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 30 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Nov 5, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 3, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2017 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 5, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Nov 5, 2024. Overnight on Sunday, November 3rd, a shield of rain and thunderstorms moved into the bi-state area. By Monday morning, persistent rainfall resulted in fatal flash flooding in southeast Missouri, with one fatality occurring in Iron County. Later on Monday evening, a QLCS produced two EF-0 tornadoes in east-central Missouri and shifted the axis of heaviest rain to the north. Due to the shift northward, record rainfa…
Flash Flood · Apr 29, 2021. Southerly flow as well as intermittent showers and a few thunderstorms raised the dew point into the mid 60s to around 70 across the area. Also, forecast soundings showed a very moist and deep warm layer up to around 12,000 feet. This combined with strong 850mb moisture convergence across southern Missouri and Illinois and precipitable water values in the 99th plus percentile, set the region up for a heavy rain…
Flash Flood · Jul 3, 2020. A detached lobe of vorticity drifted slowly south/southwestward across the region. Weak forcing associated with it combined with ample low-level moisture allowed showers and storms to develop. Some of the storms produced heavy rain and flash flooding.
Flood · Apr 30, 2017. A strong spring storm system brought multiple rounds of thunderstorms and heavy rain to the southeast half of Missouri during the weekend of April 29th-30th. Rainfall totals surpassed nine inches in some locations and this led to flash flooding and historic flooding along some of the tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Areas along the Meramec River were especially hard hit as new records were set…
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 Crawford 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.