202 flood insurance claims·$3.0M 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 New Madrid 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.
New Madrid County experiences flooding primarily driven by long-duration river and general flood events rather than flash floods, based on 64 recorded flood events compared to 15 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern; for example, on February 15, 2025, showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall of 2 to 5 inches near the Mississippi River, causing minor flooding of city streets in New Madrid as well as numerous state highways and county roads. Additionally, a strong storm system on March 3, 2023, brought heavy rainfall of 3 to 4.5 inches that produced flash flooding of a few creeks and roads alongside minor flooding on small rivers.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located in Zone A have experienced the highest volume of claims at 143, with an average payout of $18,427 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. However, properties in Zone X_UNSHADED have recorded substantial severity, with 17 claims averaging a payout of $38,040 and an average recorded water depth of 36 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents representing properties in Zone A and Zone X_UNSHADED should pay the most attention to flood risk due to their distinct patterns of claim frequency and recorded water depth.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
16% of New Madrid County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
170 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 46 claims and $368,777 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.
31 NOAA storm reports from New Madrid County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 5 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, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 11, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
79 since 1996: 15 flash floods and 64 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 4, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Aug 3, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Mar 22, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 31, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 15, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall (2-5) as they streamed northeast across southeast Missouri in the afternoon and evening of the 15th. The greatest rainfall amounts were near the Mississippi River in New Madrid and Mississippi counties. Minor flooding of city streets occurred in the city of New Madrid and along numerous state highways and county Roads. The heavy rain caused a retaining wall to coll…
Flash Flood · Aug 4, 2023. Scattered to numerous thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall developed over southeast Missouri during the night of the 3rd. These southeastward-moving storms gradually morphed into an area of widespread moderate rainfall with isolated embedded storms through the morning of the 4th. The heavy rainfall on the 4th coincided with areas of heavy rainfall that occurred on the morning of the 3rd. Two-day rainfall totals…
Flash Flood · Mar 3, 2023. A strong storm system led to significant impacts. Heavy rainfall amounts of 3 to 4.5 inches produced flash flooding of a few creeks and roads. Small rivers such as the Black, Current, and St. Francis experienced minor flooding. Strong wind gusts occurred, ranging between 40 and 60 mph. These winds were produced by a strong pressure gradient on the back side of a very intense low pressure system. The highest measur…
Flood · Aug 3, 2023. Northwest to southeast oriented bands of thunderstorms moved southeast, training over the same areas for several hours. A strong and very moist low-level wind flow fed the storms, with 850 mb winds generally from 35 to 40 knots. Tropical precipitable water values were estimated to be between 2 and 2.4 inches. Instability was sufficient for strong updrafts, with 1000 to 2000 J/kg of elevated cape near the confluenc…
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 New Madrid 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.