2 flood insurance claims·$7,763 paid·2 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 Wheeler 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 6 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.
3 NOAA storm reports from Wheeler County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Nebraska flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 2005, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | May 12, 2022 |
| 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, Ice Jams, And Flooding | Mar 6, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 22, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 22, 2008 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 28, 2007 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
5 since 1996: 3 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 13, 2019 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2010 | $1.0M |
| Flood | Jun 12, 2010 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2007 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 2005 | $3,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 13, 2019. Historical flooding occurred in north central Nebraska as rivers, creeks and other streams rose due to the combination of snow, rain, and rapid snow melt on top of frozen ground. The greatest flooding occurred along the Niobrara, Keya Paha, Elkhorn and Loup Rivers; Ponca, Long Pine, Victoria and Cedar creeks; and one fatality occurred from the failure of Spencer Dam that is located on the Niobrara River. In additi…
Flash Flood · Jun 13, 2010. Water levels at the Ericson Dam exceeded the maximum dam height and water flowed into the emergency spillway. Reports indicated that the spillway began to erode before 7 p.m. CST and the spillway breached thereafter, causing water to drain from the lake.
Flood · Jun 12, 2010. A semi stationary front across the plains over a three day period remained the focus for thunderstorm development on June 11th. The thunderstorms developed initially on the high plains and spread east and intensified producing several large hail events and an isolated tornado in western Nebraska. Overnight as the low level jet strengthened storms continued producing heavy rainfall over already saturated grounds th…
Flash Flood · Jun 13, 2007. First in a wave of systems to push out of Colorado and the Panhandle into Southwest Nebraska during the evening of June 11th through June 13th. The initial storm system brought large hail and very heavy rainfall. The storm system then developed into a heavy rainfall event causing extensive flash flooding.
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 Wheeler 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.