4 flood insurance claims·$23,727 paid·5 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 Cedar 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 and general flooding from thunderstorms and severe weather systems dominate the flood history of Cedar County, Nebraska. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database has recorded 13 flash flood events and 10 general flood events in the area.
Recent events illustrate these hazards. In July 2024, isolated convection brought flash flooding to the county, with a trained spotter reporting water flowing over multiple county roads. Earlier, in March 2019, a bomb cyclone produced widespread, historic flooding across eastern Nebraska driven by rapid snowmelt over frozen ground combined with heavy rain.
Federal Emergency Management Agency records show that historical National Flood Insurance Program claims are concentrated in Zone A, which accounts for 4 claims with an average payout of $7,909 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Properties located within Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risks in the county.
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 8 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Cedar County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | May 12, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 17, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Flooding | Jun 17, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuees | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
23 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 16, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 18, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2014 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Jul 5, 2014 | — |
| Flood | Sep 1, 2011 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2011 | $15,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 19, 2024. Isolated convection across northeast Nebraska brought an instance of flash flooding in Cedar County where a trained spotter reported water flowing over multiple county roads. There was also a funnel cloud the following day that received a lot of social media attention that developed over Norfolk. Additional funnels clouds were noted in Monona County the evening of the 21st.
Flash Flood · Apr 16, 2024. At midnight on the 16th, non-severe thunderstorms were ongoing across portions of northeast Nebraska and western Iowa. With these storms being rooted in a nearly stationary boundary co-located with the exit region of a low-level jet, this area saw prolonged periods of moderate to heavy rain. This resulted in isolated instances of flash flooding, especially for rural portions of western Wayne County where several r…
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…
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2014. The warm front that was responsible for the significant tornadoes on the afternoon of the 16th, lifted slightly north on the 17th into far northeast Nebraska. Extreme instability again developed along this boundary given the very warm and humid airmass in place across the region. By late afternoon an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed along this boundary and quickly become severe. This lone supercell produc…
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 Cedar 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.