848 flood insurance claims·$21.1M paid·8 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 Sarpy 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 thunderstorms dominate the flood risk profile in Sarpy County, Nebraska, where the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 33 flood events and 15 flash flood events, resulting in one death, over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including a slow-moving thunderstorm on July 31, 2025, that produced rainfall rates of 1.50 to 3.00 inches per hour and caused multiple flash flood reports with water partially covering U.S. highways. Additionally, river flooding along the Missouri River led to ongoing closures of sections of I-29 and the I-29/I680 junction through the first week of July 2024 following crests at the end of June.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in Zone A should pay the most attention, accounting for the vast majority of historical claims with 615 filings averaging $30,805 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. However, property owners outside designated high-risk zones must also remain attentive, as claims were also filed in Zone X (104 claims, averaging $52,590 and an average 9 inches of water depth), Zone X shaded (58 claims, averaging $10,325 and an average 2 inches of water depth), Zone X unshaded (30 claims, averaging $16,847 and an average 7 inches of water depth), and unknown zones (41 claims, averaging $6,434 and an average 8 inches of water depth).
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Sarpy County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
703 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 212 claims and $3.0M paid, the year of Ice Jams & Flooding and 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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Sarpy County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Mar 18, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 31, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jul 9, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Jun 12, 2017 |
| Flooding | Jun 17, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
48 since 1996: 15 flash floods and 33 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 25, 2024 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Jun 23, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 14, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 7, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 28, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2025. On the morning of July 31, 2025, a slow-moving, efficient rainfall-producing thunderstorm impacted the Omaha metropolitan area. Rainfall rates under the heaviest showers were estimated at 1.50 to 3.00 inches per hour. Radar estimates placed total rainfall between 1.25 and 4.00 inches, with observed reports ranging from 3.15 to 4.03 inches across western portions of the Omaha metro in Douglas and Sarpy Counties. Mu…
Flood · Jun 25, 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 · Jun 23, 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…
Flash 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…
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 Sarpy 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.