141 flood insurance claims·$3.0M 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 Reynolds 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 dominates the flood risk profile in Reynolds County, accounting for 23 events and 1 death over the last thirty years, compared to 4 riverine flood events and 2 deaths. Heavy rainfall systems frequently impact the region, as demonstrated on July 31, 2020, when slow-moving upper-level systems dropped 3 to 7 inches of rain and caused flash flooding. Similarly, persistent rainfall on November 4, 2024, produced fatal flash flooding in southeast Missouri.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that risk extends across multiple zones, though high-risk areas bear the heaviest burden. Properties located in FEMA Zone A experienced the vast majority of claims with 121 filings, averaging $25,062 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Meanwhile, unshaded Zone X properties recorded 11 claims with a higher average payout of $50,964 and an average water depth of 7 inches. Shaded Zone X and standard Zone X properties recorded fewer claims with lower average payouts and shallower water depths.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated within FEMA Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of historical flood claims in the county, as well as properties in unshaded Zone X areas where average claim payouts have been highest.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Reynolds County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
136 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 2008, with 33 claims and $475,555 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Reynolds County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
26 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, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Nov 3, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
| 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.
27 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 4, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 24, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 28, 2015 | $355,000 |
| Flood | Nov 17, 2015 | — · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Apr 23, 2011 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. A stationary front over southern Missouri along with ample mid-level forcing, moisture, and efficient rain processes resulted in flooding across portions of east-central and southeast Missouri. Numerous roads across the St. Louis metropolitan area were impassable due to the heavy rainfall.
Flash Flood · Nov 4, 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 · Jul 31, 2020. An upper level low centered over Missouri moved slowly eastward with two lobes of vorticity that were pivoting around each other. The interaction of the two vort maxes produced two distinct areas of heavy rain, one over central/east central Missouri and another over south central and southeast Missouri. Very heavy rain fell in these areas, mainly between 3 and 4 inches of rain, though a few areas had around 6 to 7…
Flash Flood · Feb 24, 2018. Several rounds of heavy rain fell over the region leading up to February 24th. Storm total amounts ranged from 2 to 6 inches with the highest amounts along and south of I-44. Flash flooding was reported in a number of locations.
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 Reynolds 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.