159 flood insurance claims·$3.1M paid·6 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 Washington 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 Washington County, NE, backed by 19 recorded flood events and 12 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts are documented by events such as a July 2024 river flood that kept sections of I-29 and the I-29/I-680 junction closed through the first week of the month as waters receded, and an August 2025 flash flood from a powerful thunderstorm system that caused one fatality and seven injuries alongside widespread property and tree damage.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in Zone A bear the heaviest risk, accounting for 133 claims with an average payout of $26,931 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Claims were also filed in Zone X_UNSHADED (15 claims, averaging $6,040 and 2 inches of water depth), Zone X_SHADED (6 claims, averaging $16,406 and 2 inches of water depth), Zone X (3 claims, averaging $28,727 and 0 inches of water depth), and Zone UNKNOWN (2 claims, averaging $4,234 and 3 inches of water depth). Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A due to the high concentration of claims and deeper average water accumulation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Washington County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
154 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 2011, with 36 claims and $1.7M paid, the year of 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Washington County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 6 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, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 19, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 25, 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 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 19 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 24, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Mar 14, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Jun 21, 2014 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 9, 2025. A powerful thunderstorm, characterized by a broad swath of destructive winds, swept across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa on the morning of August 9, 2025. The event was responsible for one fatality and seven injuries, as well as widespread property and tree damage. This devastating storm was spawned by a large low-pressure system moving across the northern Great Plains. A trailing front and a strong low-level…
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 · Aug 2, 2023. An upper-level short-wave helped lead to clusters of weak thunderstorms the morning of August 2. Early in the event, there were a couple of wind reports with a 71 mph wind measured at the Norfolk Airport. A moisture rich environment led to efficient downpours from thunderstorms. Additionally, clusters tracked over the same locations helping lead to high rainfall totals. There were several reports of 3 to 4 inches…
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 Washington 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.