49 flood insurance claims·$453,662 paid·7 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 Nemaha 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.
River flooding dominates the flood history of Nemaha County, supported by 55 recorded flood events and 14 flash flood events over the last 30 years, resulting in one fatality.
Recent weather patterns illustrate these hazards. In May 2019, nocturnal thunderstorms brought 2 to 8.75 inches of rain, causing river flooding on local streams including the Little Nemaha River. Later, prolonged river flooding along the Missouri River caused closures along I-29 through the first week of July 2024, alongside impacts to riverfront properties in far southeast Nebraska.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located in Zone A face the highest average severity, logging 29 claims with an average payout of $18,207 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. By comparison, Zone UNKNOWN recorded 18 claims with an average payout of $8,306 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $1,670 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Property owners near rivers and within Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Nemaha County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
31 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 5 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 1993, with 16 claims and $169,004 paid, the year of Severe Storms 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Nemaha County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Aug 8, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 19, 2024 |
| 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 | May 6, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 1, 2014 |
| Flooding | Jun 17, 2011 |
| Flooding | May 24, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 14 flash floods and 55 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 24, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 12, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 24, 2024. A series of shortwave troughs traversing the northern CONUS brought unsettled weather to the area for the end of June. On the 21st, a stationary front was draped across northeast Nebraska into Iowa. Ahead of one of the aforementioned shortwave troughs, several rounds of strong thunderstorms developed near this frontal zone and moved across northeast Nebraska. At 8 pm on the 21st, radar imagery showed training thun…
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 · May 12, 2023. A strong low-pressure system which had been slowly moving east off the Rocky Mountains finally progressed into central Nebraska. This left eastern Nebraska in the warm sector as a warm front moved north into the area. The SPC issued an Enhanced Risk for severe weather with a 30% hatched for severe hail. There ended up being 19 confirmed tornadoes (3 EF2, 8 EF1, 4 EF0, 4 EFU). There were numerous hail reports the l…
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2020. Scattered storms produced a couple of severe reports and led to flash flooding.
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 Nemaha 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.