126 flood insurance claims·$811,541 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 Hall 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 floods and general river floods occur with nearly equal frequency in Hall County, driven by 16 flash flood events and 15 general flood events recorded over the last 30 years. NOAA storm narratives document significant impacts from these weather systems, including a heavy rain and thunderstorm event in May 2020 and severe flooding following excessive rainfall, blizzard conditions, and high winds in March 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones with varying severity. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 86 claims averaging an 8-inch recorded water depth and a $9,154 average payout. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded fewer claims with 11 filings, but these carried a significantly higher average payout of $44,145 and an average recorded water depth of 36 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A should pay close attention due to the high frequency of claims, while those in Zone X must account for the potential of deeper water inundation averaging 36 inches during severe flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Hall County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
93 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 9 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 2005, with 33 claims and $171,529 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Hurricane Katrina Evacuees.
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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Hall County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
17 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jul 9, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuees | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 11, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | May 20, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 26, 2024 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 25, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Aug 26, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Aug 23, 2019 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2019 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Feb 3, 2017 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 26, 2024. An upper level trough over the Four Corners region moved eastward over the Southern and Central Plains. Winds across south central and central Nebraska were out of the southeast to east. Temperatures during the evening into the night hours were generally in the low 60s with dewpoint temperatures in the 50s. A warm front and dryline were present across Kansas. CAPE values were generally between 1,000 to 2,000 J/kg…
Flash Flood · Apr 25, 2024. An upper level trough over the Four Corners region moved eastward over the Southern and Central Plains. Winds across south central and central Nebraska were out of the southeast to east. Temperatures during the evening into the night hours were generally in the low 60s with dewpoint temperatures in the 50s. A warm front and dryline were present across Kansas. CAPE values were generally between 1,000 to 2,000 J/kg…
Flash Flood · May 25, 2020. Thunderstorms brought heavy rain and a landspout to portions of south central Nebraska the evening of Sunday, May 24 into the early morning hours of Memorial Day, Monday, May 25.||Just after 6 PM CDT Sunday evening, weak thundershowers began developing along a frontal boundary that was located from near Stockton, KS to Red Cloud, NE to Shelby, NE. One of these weak thundershowers managed to spawn a landspout torna…
Flood · Aug 26, 2019. A complex of strong to severe thunderstorms raced southeastward through mainly the northeast half of South Central Nebraska on this Monday morning, causing a few marginally-severe wind gusts, but mainly just dumping more unwelcomed rain, promoting new flooding issues and/or exacerbating ongoing flooding. The heart of this storm complex tracked along a 20-30 mile wide swath centered from roughly Arcadia-Grand Islan…
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 Hall 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.