27 flood insurance claims·$415,728 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 Otoe 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 and flash flooding from summer storms dominate the flood risk profile in Otoe County, Nebraska, backed by 38 flood events and 27 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years in the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Recent history illustrates these hazards. In June 2024, a stationary front and unsettled weather brought training thunderstorms to the area, leading to river flooding along the Missouri River that kept sections of I-29 closed into early July as waters receded. Earlier, in June 2021, training storms developed across southeast Nebraska, producing strong winds and flash flooding.
NFIP claim data shows that property owners in Zone A should pay the most attention, accounting for 20 claims with an average payout of $22,662 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone UNKNOWN (5 claims, average payout of $2,828, average recorded water depth of 2 inches), Zone X (1 claim, average payout of $7,040, average recorded water depth of 8 inches), and Zone X_UNSHADED (1 claim, average payout of $9,299, average recorded water depth of 0 inches).
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Otoe County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
21 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 2010, with 6 claims and $25,064 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Ice Jams, and Flooding, Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornado, and Straight-lin.
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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Otoe County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Mar 18, 2025 |
| 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 |
| Flooding | Jun 17, 2011 |
| Flooding | May 24, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornado, And Straight-lin | Sep 13, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
65 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 38 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 24, 2024 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 24, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 18, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 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 · Jun 24, 2021. Training storms developed across southeast Nebraska, produced strong winds and caused flash flooding.
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 Otoe 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.