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FEMA flood zones · Nebraska

Blaine County, Nebraska Flood Zone Map

1 federal flood & hurricane disasters

FEMA’s digital flood map shows no high- or moderate-risk zones in Blaine County. That can mean the area was never studied in detail or has no digital map, not that it can’t flood; the county floodplain administrator can say which.

Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.

Coastal high risk (V, VE)FloodwayHigh risk (A, AE)Moderate (X, 500-year)Minimal (X)Undetermined (D)

Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Blaine County, Nebraska. 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.

In their words

2 NOAA storm reports from Blaine County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →

Federal disasters

12 federal disaster declarations since 2001, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.

DisasterBegan
Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And FloodingMar 9, 2019
Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line WindsApr 13, 2018
Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line WindsApr 29, 2017
Severe Storms And FloodingJun 1, 2010
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And FloodingMay 22, 2008
Severe Storms, Flooding, And TornadoesMay 4, 2007
Severe Winter StormsDec 19, 2006
Hurricane Katrina EvacueesAug 29, 2005

Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.

Recorded flood events

2 since 1996: 2 river or area floods.

EventDateDamage
FloodMar 13, 2019—
FloodJun 12, 2010$130,000

— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

From the storm reports

Flood · Mar 13, 2019. Historical flooding occurred in north central Nebraska as rivers, creeks and other streams rose due to the combination of snow, rain, and rapid snow melt on top of frozen ground. The greatest flooding occurred along the Niobrara, Keya Paha, Elkhorn and Loup Rivers; Ponca, Long Pine, Victoria and Cedar creeks; and one fatality occurred from the failure of Spencer Dam that is located on the Niobrara River. In additi…

Flood · Jun 12, 2010. A semi stationary front across the plains over a three day period remained the focus for thunderstorm development on June 11th. The thunderstorms developed initially on the high plains and spread east and intensified producing several large hail events and an isolated tornado in western Nebraska. Overnight as the low level jet strengthened storms continued producing heavy rainfall over already saturated grounds th…

National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

The zones you’ll see on the map

Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.

Cross-section of a river floodplainDiagram: a river valley. The floodway is the channel and the land beside it; the 1%-annual-chance flood surface (the base flood elevation) covers the valley floor as zone A or AE; a narrow band higher up is shaded X, the 0.2% floodplain; higher ground is X.0.2% CHANCE A YEAR (500-YEAR)BASE FLOOD ELEVATION · 1% A YEARXAEFloodwayAEX
  1. A / AE Inside the 1%-a-year floodplain: about a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. AE has a mapped base flood elevation; plain A does not.
  2. Floodway The channel and the land beside it that has to be kept clear enough to carry the flood. Building here is tightly limited.
  3. X shaded The 0.2% (500-year) floodplain, plus some levee-protected and very shallow flood areas.
  4. X Outside both lines. No federal requirement to insure, which is not the same as no risk.

Every flood zone code explained →

Flood insurance in Blaine County

If a building in Blaine 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.