194 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Saline 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.
Saline County, Nebraska experiences a flood risk profile dominated by general floods and flash floods, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 54 flood events and 23 flash flood events over the last 30 years.
Specific historical events illustrate these hazards. On March 13, 2019, a bomb cyclone caused widespread, historic flooding across eastern Nebraska as rapid snowmelt combined with 1 to 2.5 inches of rain over 48 hours over frozen ground. Later that year, severe thunderstorms on October 1, 2019, dropped 3 to 4 inches of rain across Saline and Jefferson Counties, resulting in flash flooding. Additional flash flood events occurred on June 26, 2019, and September 1, 2025, when persistent showers produced radar-estimated rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour and totals reaching 4 to 6 inches.
Property owners in FEMA Zone A should pay the most attention to this risk. In Zone A, the county has recorded 186 National Flood Insurance Program claims with an average payout of $8,787 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. An additional 8 claims were recorded in Zone UNKNOWN, with an average payout of $2,530 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Saline County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
186 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 8 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 86 claims and $755,829 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.
31 NOAA storm reports from Saline County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
21 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, 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 | May 11, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Ice Jams, And Flooding | Mar 6, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
77 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 54 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Sep 3, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $325,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Dec 1, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 1, 2025. On the morning of September 1, 2025, a mesoscale vorticity maximum advancing into eastern Nebraska provided the necessary forcing for lift, resulting in a persistent band of moderate to heavy showers. The concurrent presence of a 20-25 knot low-level jet significantly enhanced the inflow of a very moist, albeit weakly unstable, air mass. This dynamic led to radar-estimated rainfall rates reaching 2 to 3 inches per…
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2020. Scattered storms produced a couple of severe reports and led to flash flooding.
Flood · Jun 27, 2020. Scattered storms produced a couple of severe reports and led to flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2019. Severe storms moved through the area during the evening on June 25th, 2019, and then again during the early morning on June 26th, 2019.
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 Saline 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.