3 flood insurance claims·$13,326 paid·3 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 Webster 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.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 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 $11,599 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Webster County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 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 Winter Storm And Straight-line Winds | Apr 13, 2018 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Dec 19, 2006 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
13 since 1996: 7 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 18, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flood | May 27, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Aug 29, 2016 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 29, 2016 | $40,000 |
| Flood | May 19, 2011 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2008 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2008 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 18, 2025. Two separate rounds of severe weather impacted south central Nebraska on this day and brought a variety of severe weather.||The first round of thunderstorms produced a combination of wind and hail along with the first flooding rains of the season. The flooding rain was thanks to a combination of the slow movement and the intense rainfall rates over the same area. Though there was plenty of water to go around, the…
Flood · May 27, 2019. Widespread flooding of low-lying areas, fields, creeks, and rivers continued. A large area of heavy rain fell due to multiple thunderstorm episodes on the nights of the 26th and 27th, and resulted in 3 to 5 inch totals over much of south central Nebraska. The swath of greatest rainfall amounts extended from Alma to Hastings to Columbus. This swath was surrounded by rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches. The highest amo…
Flood · Jun 26, 2019. Between the mid-afternoon of Tuesday the 25th and early morning of Wednesday the 26th, mainly the eastern half of South Central Nebraska endured two rounds of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, with the first round by far the most impactful as it produced some of the largest hail of 2019 within the area (up to 3 diameter). Examining Round 1 in more detail, it unfolded from 4-8 p.m. CDT within several countie…
Flood · Aug 29, 2016. In only a few hours' time between the late evening of Sunday the 28th and the early morning of Monday the 29th, a nearly stationary cluster of thunderstorms drenched much of southern Adams, northern Webster and adjacent small portions of Franklin and Nuckolls counties with 3-7 inches of heavy rain, at least temporarily halting a worsening drought (more on this below). Extensive flooding ensued along the Little Blu…
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 Webster 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.