64 flood insurance claims·$7.2M 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 Buffalo 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 and general river flooding define the primary flood risks in Buffalo County, Nebraska. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 16 flash flood events and 13 general flood events. Recent history includes a slow-moving cluster of thunderstorms that brought heavy rain and localized flooding in July 2022, as well as a severe combination of excessive rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds that triggered extensive, multi-day flooding in March 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas, though claims are heavily concentrated in designated zones. Zone A has accumulated 53 claims with an average payout of $164,423 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have accounted for 7 claims with an average payout of $28,996 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone X unshaded and unknown zones recorded a combined 4 claims with lower average payouts and minimal recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which experiences the highest frequency and cost of claims, while recognizing that moderate-risk zones also face occasional flood damage.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Buffalo County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
56 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 2 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 46 claims and $7.1M 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Buffalo County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight Line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 28, 2007 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuees | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
29 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 22, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Aug 23, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $1.0M |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $2.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2019 | $25.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2019 | $5.0M |
| Flood | Jul 5, 2018 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 21, 2023. Between the mid-afternoon of Thursday the 21st and the early morning of Friday the 22nd, fairly widespread thunderstorm activity affected much of South Central Nebraska, but particularly counties between Interstate 80 and the Kansas border. Within this region, a few rounds of strong to severe storms unfolded, including a handful of intense supercells. Ground-truth severe weather reports were primarily highlighted…
Flash Flood · Jul 22, 2022. A slow-moving cluster of strong to severe thunderstorms rumbled along a path from the northwestern corner of Buffalo County to northwestern Adams County between the evening of Friday the 22nd into the very early morning of Saturday the 23rd, yielding a few reports of marginally-severe hail and winds, along with heavy rain and localized flooding. Isolated thunderstorms started developing around 8 PM CDT near the no…
Flood · Aug 23, 2019. As severe storm/flooding events go, some are definitely better-anticipated than others (forecast-wise). Unfortunately, what transpired on this Thursday evening the 22nd into early Friday morning the 23rd fell into the low-predictability category, as an apparent mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) sparked isolated-but-intense thunderstorms that not only dumped flooding rains on parts of Sherman/Buffalo/Howard/Hall/Ad…
Flash Flood · Mar 13, 2019. Excessive rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds occurred on this Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, and they were followed by extensive and significant flooding that lasted for days afterward. The seeds of the disastrous flooding were planted in the weeks leading up to this event. The factors that came together made this a worst case scenario. February through early March was bitterly cold and snowy du…
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 Buffalo 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.