9,999 flood insurance claims·$152.0M paid·9 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 St. Charles 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of St. Charles County, MO, backed by 40 flash flood events compared to 21 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, such as the July 26, 2022 morning commute when training thunderstorms dropped upwards of 11 inches of rain in an axis from Hawk Point to St. Peters, and the June 4, 2025 cold front that produced localized flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood impacts extend across multiple zones, with the vast majority concentrated in high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 9,291 claims with an average recorded water depth of 9 inches and an average payout of $17,425. Meanwhile, moderate-to-low risk areas also experience significant water accumulation, including Zone X claims averaging 14 inches of recorded water depth with a $25,047 average payout, Zone X_SHADED claims averaging 7 inches of water depth with a $14,143 average payout, and Zone X_UNSHADED claims averaging 8 inches of water depth with a $9,872 average payout.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A face the highest volume of claims and should pay the closest attention, while properties in Zone X and shaded X zones also require caution due to higher average claim payouts and recorded water depths when flooding occurs.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of St. Charles County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
9,564 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 9 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 1993, with 2,393 claims and $60.5M paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
11 NOAA storm reports from St. Charles County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
28 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 25, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 29, 2013 |
| Flooding | Jun 1, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And A Tornado | Sep 11, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
61 since 1996: 40 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2022 | $10.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 8, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 26, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2019 | $1.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 4, 2025. A loose band of showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front during the afternoon of June 4th. This band caused flash flooding in St. Charles County and a tornado in St. Louis County.
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 · Jul 26, 2022. During the early morning of Tuesday, July 26th, 2022, a complex of training thunderstorms set up roughly along the I-70 corridor in Missouri and I-64 corridor in Illinois. Several rounds of thunderstorms with rainfall rates exceeding 2in/hr affected this area, including the St. Louis metropolitan area, through the early hours of July 26th and into the morning commute. Upwards of 11 of rain fell over the course of…
Flash Flood · Jun 22, 2020. Showers and storms developed ahead of a cold front. Some of the storms produced very heavy rainfall that caused flash flooding.
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 St. Charles 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.