2 flood insurance claims·$1,858 paid·3 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 Franklin 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 1 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Franklin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
10 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuees | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | May 20, 2004 |
| Severe Snow Storms, Rain, And Strong Winds | Oct 24, 1997 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 23, 1993 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Jul 18, 1967 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
9 since 1996: 5 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 27, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jun 16, 2013 | — |
| Flood | Aug 30, 2011 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2008 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2008 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 18, 2004 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Jul 4, 2000 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 27, 2019. Widespread flooding of low-lying areas, fields, creeks, and rivers continued. A large area of heavy rain fell due to multiple thunderstorm episodes on the nights of the 26th and 27th, and resulted in 3 to 5 inch totals over much of south central Nebraska. The swath of greatest rainfall amounts extended from Alma to Hastings to Columbus. This swath was surrounded by rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches. The highest amo…
Flash Flood · Jul 8, 2019. Excessive rainfall, flash flooding, and severe winds occurred on this Monday afternoon and evening. Widely scattered thunderstorms began forming around 1 PM CST along and west of Highway 183. By 2 PM CST, a persistent line segment of thunderstorms began affecting western Dawson county. Over the following four hours, this southwest-northeast oriented line slowly crept east across Dawson county into western Buffalo…
Flood · Jun 16, 2013. Although much of South Central Nebraska observed showers and thunderstorms on this late Sunday afternoon and evening, severe weather in the form of hail, damaging winds and locally heavy rainfall mainly concentrated within a fairly narrow northwest-to-southeast corridor across western portions of the area. More specifically, severe storms primarily targeted western Sherman County, along with locations roughly 10-1…
Flood · Aug 30, 2011. Although severe weather in the form of hail or damaging winds was not an issue, thunderstorms, some producing flooding rains, were widespread across South Central Nebraska between the evening of Monday the 29th and pre-dawn hours of Tuesday the 30th. By far the heaviest rainfall targeted southern counties, generally between the Highway 6 corridor and the Kansas border, with amounts of 1.50 to 2.50 inches common. A…
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 Franklin 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.