15 flood insurance claims·$134,804 paid·6 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 Boone 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.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Boone County, Nebraska, supported by 21 flash flood events compared to 10 general flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe weather events have historically driven significant flooding in the area. A passing mid-level disturbance and a stalled surface boundary caused continuous thunderstorms and repeated rounds of heavy rainfall with totals of 4 to locally 7+ inches from June 25 to June 26, 2025. Additionally, a bomb cyclone on March 13, 2019, combined warm temperatures, rapid snowmelt from 4 to 15 inches of remaining snow cover, frozen ground, and 1 to 2.5 inches of rain to create widespread, historic flooding.
NFIP claim records reflect this risk distribution, showing 14 claims in Zone A with an average payout of $15,333 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches, alongside 1 claim in Zone X averaging a $9,033 payout with an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Property owners located within Zone A should pay the most attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 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 2019, with 6 claims and $115,521 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, 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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Boone County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Mar 18, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | May 12, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Ice Jams, And Flooding | Mar 6, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $52,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 20, 2011 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 22, 2010 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2010 | $2,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 2025. From the afternoon of June 25th into the morning of June 26th, continuous thunderstorms occurred in eastern Nebraska along a stalled surface trough/boundary stretching from northwest Iowa into northwest Kansas. Thunderstorm development was also aided by low level moisture transport and a passing mid-level disturbance. ||With storm motion largely parallel to the boundary, many locations saw repeated rounds of heavy…
Flash Flood · Jul 7, 2025. On July 7, 2025, a lee surface trough pushed into western Nebraska and South Dakota during the afternoon, initiating scattered thunderstorms across the region. By evening, these storms consolidated into a larger mesoscale convective system (MCS) that tracked into northeast Nebraska before expanding southward across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa through the night.||Ahead of the main MCS, several discrete supe…
Flash Flood · Mar 13, 2019. A 971mb bomb cyclone moved out of the central Rockies on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 and helped to create widespread, moderate to major, and in many cases historic, flooding across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. From 4 to 15 inches of snow cover remained across the mid Missouri River valley, and the ground was frozen with existing frost depths of 15 to 23 inches. Warm temperatures allowed all of the snow to rapi…
Flood · Mar 13, 2019. A 971mb bomb cyclone moved out of the central Rockies on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 and helped to create widespread, moderate to major, and in many cases historic, flooding across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. From 4 to 15 inches of snow cover remained across the mid Missouri River valley, and the ground was frozen with existing frost depths of 15 to 23 inches. Warm temperatures allowed all of the snow to rapi…
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 Boone 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.