313 flood insurance claims·$3.0M paid·5 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 Lancaster 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 flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Lancaster County, accounting for 49 out of 61 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 12 general flood events.
Recent history illustrates these severe weather patterns. On August 7, 2021, a midlevel shortwave produced storms that dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain over about an hour, washing through basement apartments, sweeping up cars, and heaving pavement in low-lying areas. Later, severe weather on August 10, 2025, brought damaging winds exceeding 60 mph, significant structural damage, and one fatality as a powerful low-pressure system and frontal boundary moved across the region.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to properties in Special Flood Hazard Area Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of local NFIP claims with 210 filings, an average payout of $25,371, and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X and its shaded and unshaded subcategories also require attention, having recorded 93 total claims with average payouts ranging from $6,190 to $7,536 and average water depths between 1 and 5 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Lancaster County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
240 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 4 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 2015, with 127 claims and $2.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
23 NOAA storm reports from Lancaster County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Aug 8, 2025 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Mar 18, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 31, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 6, 2015 |
| 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.
61 since 1996: 49 flash floods and 12 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 7, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 18, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 10, 2025. A powerful line of thunderstorms, bringing with it a broad swath of damaging winds, swept across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa on the morning of August 10, 2025. This episode of severe weather was responsible for numerous reports of wind gusts exceeding 60 mph, significant structural damage, and tragically, one fatality. The thunderstorms developed as a powerful low-pressure system moved across the northern Gr…
Flood · Jul 2, 2024. At the beginning of July, river flooding was still ongoing along portions of the Missouri River extending from east-central Nebraska/southwest Iowa to the southern Nebraska border. Most of the length of the river crested at the end of June, so the greatest impacts are addressed in June StormData. However, sections of I-29 and the I-29/I680 junction remained closed through the first week of July as flood waters rec…
Flash Flood · Jul 1, 2024. At the beginning of July, river flooding was still ongoing along portions of the Missouri River extending from east-central Nebraska/southwest Iowa to the southern Nebraska border. Most of the length of the river crested at the end of June, so the greatest impacts are addressed in June StormData. However, sections of I-29 and the I-29/I680 junction remained closed through the first week of July as flood waters rec…
Flash Flood · Aug 7, 2021. A midlevel shortwave moved through the area producing storms with severe criteria hail and wind gusts. In Omaha, 2 to 3 inches of rain fell over about an hour which led to a flash flood warning being issued. Flash flooding washed through basement apartments, swept up cars, and heaved pavement in low-lying areas of the Omaha metro area. The City of Omaha Public Works office estimates the damage to the city near $1.…
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 Lancaster 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.