58 flood insurance claims·$399,485 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 Dunklin 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 driven by heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Dunklin County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 33 flash flood events, alongside 5 general flood events resulting in 1 death, and 1 tropical storm. Recent documented events include flash flooding caused by slow-moving multi-cell thunderstorms in July 2019, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding brought by a warm front and cold front in January 2023, and heavy rain and training storms associated with a frontal boundary in April 2025.
Federal insurance claims data confirms that properties in high-risk zones face the most severe impacts. Zone A accounts for the majority of claims with 41 filings, carrying an average payout of $12,552 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Properties located in Zone X experienced 7 claims with an average payout of $9,529 and an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X unshaded recorded 3 claims averaging $10,847 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Zone X shaded and unknown zones recorded fewer claims with lower average payouts and depths of 1 inch or less. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in Zone A and other designated flood hazard areas should pay the closest attention to these risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
15% of Dunklin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
48 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 7 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 2011, with 8 claims and $35,212 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
6 NOAA storm reports from Dunklin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
22 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, And Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| 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 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
39 since 1996: 33 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 2, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2019 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2019 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 31, 2017 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Dec 31, 2015 | — · 1 killed |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. The front eventually sagged south back into the Mid-South during the early morning hours of April 5th. Strong low-level moisture transport into the frontal zone resulted in heavy rain and training storms across northern sections of the Mid-South, mainly north of I-40. A bow echo developed along and just south of the slowly advancing front. This feature crossed the entire forecast area producing 13 tornadoes, inclu…
Flash Flood · Jan 2, 2023. A warm front lifted northward off the Gulf Coast, causing rapid moisture transport to the Mid-South. In addition, an upper-level trough and associated cold front approached the area. This led to showers in the afternoon and then severe thunderstorms that continued through the overnight hours. Damaging wind, hail, tornadoes, and flash flooding were the result.
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2019. Thunderstorms capable of producing periods of heavy rain trained over portions of the Missouri Bootheel during the morning hours of June 27th.
Flash Flood · Jul 10, 2019. Slow moving multi-cell thunderstorms that caused flash flooding across portions of the Missouri Bootheel during the late afternoon and early evening hours of July 10th.
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 Dunklin 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.