4 flood insurance claims·$153,405 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 Stanton 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.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and general flooding dominate the local flood history, with NOAA records detailing 16 flash flood events and 11 general flood events over the last 30 years. These hazards are driven by weather patterns such as the stalled cold front that produced flash flooding on May 31, 2024, and the historic bomb cyclone on March 13, 2019, which caused widespread flooding across eastern Nebraska over frozen ground and melting snow.
Federal insurance records reflect losses across different zones. Properties in FEMA Zone A account for 3 claims with an average payout of $3,405 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X accounts for 1 claim with an average payout of $15,000 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within designated flood zones such as Zone A, where historical claims indicate recurring water inundation risks, as well as properties in Zone X that remain vulnerable to high-severity events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 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 2019, with 1 claims and $150,000 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm, 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Stanton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 9, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Ice Jams, And Flooding | Mar 6, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuees | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
27 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 31, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Sep 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 19, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2012 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 31, 2024. Upper-level troughing was noted over the northern Rockies via upper-air analysis the morning of the 30th. This disturbance slowly tracked east across the northern Plains. Associated with this upper-level disturbance, a weakening cold front dove southeast across the northern Plains, stalling out across eastern Nebraska and northwest Iowa by the morning of the 31st. Along and ahead of this front, scattered showers a…
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 Nebraska. The thunde…
Flash Flood · Sep 19, 2019. Strong thunderstorms developed during the nighttime and lingered into the morning. Several flash flood warnings were issued between Wayne and Omaha. Thunderstorms produced 3.75 inches of rain at Lyons, 4.3 inches south of Pilger, and 4 inches at Pender.
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 of the snow to rapi…
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 Stanton 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.