171 flood insurance claims·$1.8M paid·9 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 Colfax 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.
Colfax County experiences a balanced mix of riverine flooding and flash flooding, with 14 flood events and 13 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events DB. Major flood impacts are driven by severe weather patterns, such as the March 2019 bomb cyclone that brought historic flooding due to rapid snowmelt over frozen ground combined with heavy rainfall, as well as stalled frontal systems that produced flash flooding in May 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties located in Zone A face the highest frequency and depth of risk, accounting for 140 claims with an average payout of $12,138 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Properties in Zone X have recorded 26 claims with an average payout of $32,637 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone UNKNOWN accounts for 5 claims with an average payout of $3,282 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in Zone A, where average flood depths and claim frequencies are substantially higher.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Colfax County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
140 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 11 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 2008, with 52 claims and $524,033 paid, the year of 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Colfax County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Mar 18, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 17, 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
27 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 31, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $170,000 |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2017 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 31, 2024. Upper-level troughing was noted over the northern Rockies via upper-air analysis the morning of the 30th. This disturbance slowly tracked east across the northern Plains. Associated with this upper-level disturbance, a weakening cold front dove southeast across the northern Plains, stalling out across eastern Nebraska and northwest Iowa by the morning of the 31st. Along and ahead of this front, scattered showers a…
Flood · Mar 15, 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 14, 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 · 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 Colfax 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.