4 flood insurance claims·$6,349 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 Kearney 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Kearney County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 28, 2007 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Nov 27, 2005 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuees | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
11 since 1996: 7 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 2, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Sep 26, 2013 | — |
| Flood | Oct 1, 2013 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Jan 2, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2010 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2008 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2007 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 2, 2021. Slow moving front brought severe thunderstorms, including landspouts, and heavy rain to portions of south central Nebraska during the evening of May 2nd. A line of thunderstorms blossomed along a stationary front between 6-8PM CDT from southern Gosper County E to Adams County, then NE to Polk County. Once this activity developed, it remained nearly stationary until around 10PM CDT when an upper level disturbance a…
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 · Sep 26, 2013. During the second week of September, an upper-level low pressure system formed and became cut off from the mean flow over the Intermountain West. This low slowly migrated from near Las Vegas north to Idaho. Subtropical high pressure remained stationary over the Southern Plains. This configuration channeled a stream of anomalously high moisture into the Rockies. With surface high pressure essentially stationary ove…
Flood · Oct 1, 2013. A highly unusual, albeit minor and fairly low-impact episode of Platte River flooding that began in South Central Nebraska in late September continued into the first few days of October before river levels commenced a steadier drop. More specifically, minor flooding during the first few days of October primarily concentrated along the river through Buffalo and Hall counties (and the adjacent extreme northern borde…
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 Kearney 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.