400 flood insurance claims·$18.2M paid·4 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 Taney 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 risk profile of Taney County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 117 flash flood events resulting in 5 deaths, alongside 43 general flood events and 1 death. Recent historical events include flash flooding on September 23, 2025, driven by a front producing thunderstorms and 2 to 3 inches of rainfall, as well as multiple events on July 17, 2024, caused by a mesoscale convective vortex and thunderstorms forming along a stationary boundary on the Missouri-Arkansas border.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within FEMA Zone A carry the heaviest risk and severity, recording 333 claims with an average payout of $61,572 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. By comparison, Zone X properties logged 53 claims with an average payout of $23,646 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 7 claims averaging $24,424 with an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 7 claims averaging $23,377 with an average water depth of 8 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A, where historical claim frequency and flood severity are substantially higher than in other zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
2% of Taney County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
340 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 13 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 133 claims and $7.3M 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.
61 NOAA storm reports from Taney County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 29, 2023 |
| 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, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 15, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Aug 2, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
160 since 1996: 117 flash floods and 43 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 23, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jan 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2024 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2024 | $800,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 4, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 24, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 23, 2025. A front approached southern Missouri during the afternoon and evening hours of September 23. Several thunderstorms developed and moved across the area. Some storms produced damaging winds in Dallas and Webster counties. Several instances of flash flooding occurred across McDonald, Barry and Taney counties where 2-3 inches of rainfall occurred.
Flood · Apr 29, 2024. Another round of thunderstorms produced additional heavy rainfall and flooding. A severe storm moved across northern Stone County producing a brief EF-0 tornado. Additional wind damage occurred across Cedar and Dade counties.
Flood · Jan 27, 2024. The combination of stratiform rainfall on the 26th continuing into the morning of the 27th produced rain amounts from 1 to 1.5 inches across portions of southern Missouri. This allows local streams to rise out of their banks impacting a few low water crossings and roads.
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2024. A mesoscale convective vortex pushed into the Missouri Ozarks during the afternoon of July 16, 2024, resulting in showers and thunderstorms developing out ahead of it. Thunderstorm coverage and intensity increased during the overnight hours and into the early morning hours of July 17 as they developed along a stationary boundary situated west to east on the Missouri/Arkansas border. Thunderstorms first formed over…
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 Taney 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.