809 flood insurance claims·$11.7M paid·7 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 Dodge 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.
Flooding in Dodge County is dominated by standard riverine floods, accounting for 61 of the last 30 years of recorded events in the NOAA Storm Events Database, alongside 22 flash flood events.
Recent weather patterns illustrate these risks. In May 2023, a slow-moving low-pressure system and warm front brought severe storms, tornadoes, and heavy rain to the region. Later, a series of shortwave troughs and a stationary front triggered training thunderstorms that caused flooding on June 22, 2024, followed by additional flash flooding driven by upper-level troughing on May 21, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that property owners in Zone A face the highest frequency of risk, accounting for 697 claims with an average payout of $20,023 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. However, properties in Zone X also require attention, having recorded an average water depth of 16 inches across 16 claims with an average payout of $22,218. Additional claims are documented in Zone X_SHADED with an average payout of $12,693 and 3 inches of water, Zone X_UNSHADED with $5,412 and 5 inches of water, and Zone UNKNOWN with $5,399 and 1 inch of water.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Dodge County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
759 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 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 285 claims and $8.9M 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.
42 NOAA storm reports from Dodge County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 7 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, And Straight-line Winds | Jun 12, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight Line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 27, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
83 since 1996: 22 flash floods and 61 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 22, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 21, 2024 | $150,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 18, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 12, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 30, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 25, 2021 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 10, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2021 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 22, 2024. A series of shortwave troughs traversing the northern CONUS brought unsettled weather to the area for the end of June. On the 21st, a stationary front was draped across northeast Nebraska into Iowa. Ahead of one of the aforementioned shortwave troughs, several rounds of strong thunderstorms developed near this frontal zone and moved across northeast Nebraska. At 8 pm on the 21st, radar imagery showed training thun…
Flash Flood · May 21, 2024. Troughing over the western CONUS brought southwesterly flow aloft over the central and northern Plains for the duration of this event. In the couple of days leading up to May 21st, the upper-level flow pattern amplified as a trough deepened over the northern Rockies. This trough then ejected out into the central Plains on the 21st. At the surface, a stationary front developed and stretched across central Nebraska…
Flash Flood · Apr 18, 2023. A cold front moved across eastern Nebraska which had observed unseasonably warm temperatures in the past couple of days. The front set off a line of storms that produced strong wind gusts and large hail. The strongest measured wind gust was 67 mph in Sarpy County and there were several 1.75-inch hail reports in Otoe County. A flash flood was reported in Sarpy County as 2-3 inches of rain fell across the county.
Flash Flood · Apr 18, 2023. There was a both a marginal risk for severe weather and excessive rainfall. Discrete storms developed near 10 PM and produced several hail reports and a couple of wind reports in Cass County. Additionally, a flash flood was observed in Fremont.
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 Dodge 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.