Enter any address in Madison County, Nebraska to see its FEMA flood zone
Flash flooding from thunderstorms is the dominant flood character in Madison County, NE. In the last 30 years, NOAA Storm Events data shows 23 flash flood events and 12 flood events, which have resulted in 2 fatalities. Recent events include flash flooding on July 7, 2025, and March 15, 2024, driven by severe weather systems. A significant flood event occurred on March 13, 2019, causing widespread, historic flooding due to rapid snowmelt combined with heavy rainfall.
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims data indicates that properties in Zone A have experienced the most claims, with an average payout of $58,258 and an average water depth of 1.8 feet. Properties in Zone X have also seen substantial claims, with a higher average payout of $82,306 and an average water depth of 2.7 feet. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X, particularly those with homes not built to Base Flood Elevation (BFE), should pay the most attention to flood risk.
Summary generated from NOAA storm narratives and NFIP claim data for this county. Not predictive.
13 NOAA storm reports from this county describe what happened, in the words of the meteorologists who were there.
Madison County, Nebraska has recorded 35 flood-related events since 1996 according to NOAA's Storm Events Database, including 23 flash floods and 12 river or area floods. The county has received 19 federal disaster declarations, 6 of which involved flooding or coastal storms. Enter any address above to check its FEMA flood zone designation.
FEMA Disaster Declarations (1967–2021)
Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
| Declaration | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Severe Storm | Jul 9, 2021 |
| Covid-19 | Biological | Jan 20, 2020 |
| Covid-19 Pandemic | Biological | Jan 20, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Flood | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Snowstorm | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Severe Storm | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Ice Jams, And Flooding | Flood | Mar 6, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Severe Storm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Severe Storm | May 28, 2007 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Severe Storm | Dec 19, 2006 |
NOAA Storm Events Database (1996–2025)
Source: NOAA National Weather Service Storm Events Database.
| Type | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2025 | 0.00K |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2024 | 100.00K |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | 194.00K (1 deaths) |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | 0.00K |
| Flash Flood | Apr 14, 2012 | 200.00K |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2010 | 4.00K |
| Flood | Jun 14, 2010 | 1.00M (1 deaths) |
| Flood | Jun 10, 2010 | 30.00K |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2010 | 10.00K |
| Flash Flood | Aug 16, 2009 | 20.00K |
Flash Flood — Jul 7, 2025
On July 7, 2025, a lee surface trough pushed into western Nebraska and South Dakota during the afternoon, initiating scattered thunderstorms across the region. By evening, these storms consolidated into a larger mesoscale convective system (MCS) that tracked into northeast Nebraska before expanding southward across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa through the night.||Ahead of the main MCS, s...
Flash Flood — Jun 15, 2024
On the morning of the 15th, upper air analysis showed a shortwave trough centered over the High Plains. At the surface, a warm front draped across the Plains slowly lifted north throughout the day, eventually stalling out across eastern Nebraska and down into northwestern Missouri. That afternoon, two areas of thunderstorm development was noted, one in northeast Kansas and another in northeast ...
Flood — Mar 13, 2019
A 971mb bomb cyclone moved out of the central Rockies on Wednesday, March 13, 2019 and helped to create widespread, moderate to major, and in many cases historic, flooding across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. From 4 to 15 inches of snow cover remained across the mid Missouri River valley, and the ground was frozen with existing frost depths of 15 to 23 inches. Warm temperatures allowed all...
Flash Flood — Apr 14, 2012
A strong upper level system over the southern Rockies lifted northeast across the plains causing an intense surface low pressure system and attendant warm front to lift into Nebraska. The main warm front remained either in southern Nebraska or in Kansas, and the shear and instability associated with the system produced widespread multi-cellular convection with embedded super cell thunderstorms...
Flash Flood — Jun 20, 2010
Low pressure over southeast Nebraska and a warm front extending east sank slowly south during the evening and overnight hours of June 20th. Thunderstorms developed in the Lincoln area during the early evening of 6/20 and remained nearly stationary for a few hours before slowly building east. Another area of storms that developed southwest of Lincoln merged with the cells near Lincoln and push...
Source: NOAA National Weather Service Storm Events Database.
Source: OpenFEMA NFIP Individual Claims (2.25M records analyzed).
FEMA assigns flood zone designations to areas in Madison County, Nebraska:
AE High Risk — 1% annual chance of flooding. Insurance required.
VE Very High Risk — Coastal flooding with wave action.
X (Shaded) Moderate Risk — 500-year floodplain.
X Low Risk — Outside major floodplains.
Properties in Madison County, Nebraska that are in FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (zones A and V) with federally backed mortgages are required to carry flood insurance.
Even outside high-risk zones, flood insurance is recommended. From 2014 to 2024, nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area.
Visit FloodSmart.gov to find an agent and get a quote.