420 flood insurance claims·$11.2M paid·18 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 Benson County, North Dakota. 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.
Flooding driven by general flood events dominates Benson County, with NOAA records showing 44 flood events compared to 21 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Heavy precipitation and snowmelt frequently trigger these conditions, as demonstrated by severe winter snowpacks in the Devils Lake basin leading to flooding in April 2011, and training thunderstorms producing washed-out roads, flooded fields, and basement flooding in July 2020.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that risk extends across multiple zones. Zone X leads with 214 claims averaging a $73,148 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone D accounts for 143 claims averaging $31,319 with an average water depth of 1 inch, while unshaded Zone X records 46 claims averaging $81,738 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Zone A represents 15 claims averaging $15,409 with an average water depth of 3 inches, and two claims in unknown zones average a $43,000 payout with an average water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists working in Benson County should pay the most attention to properties located in Zone X and Zone D, which account for the vast majority of historical insurance claims and payouts in the area.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
75% of Benson County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
61 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 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 2011, with 72 claims and $3.3M 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.
16 NOAA storm reports from Benson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Dakota flood stories →
34 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 18 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 29, 2020 |
| Flooding | Mar 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 25, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 17, 2013 |
| Flooding | Apr 22, 2013 |
| Flooding | Apr 5, 2011 |
| Flooding | Feb 14, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Apr 1, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
65 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 44 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 1, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 20, 2019 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2016 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2011 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2011 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2011 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2011 | $250,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 1, 2020. Training thunderstorms, mainly across portions of Grand Forks County, produced 3 to 10 inches of rain. The heaviest rain was around Arvilla, North Dakota, at 10 inches. This resulted in washed out roads, flooded fields and basements, and ponding of water in low lying areas. Even U. S. Highway 2 near the Grand Forks Air Force Base, had water over a portion of it.
Flash Flood · Sep 20, 2019. By the late afternoon of the 20th, a weak area of surface low pressure set up near Devils Lake, with the warm front extending out to the east-southeast. Temperatures had risen into the mid 70s to low 80s in the warm sector, with dew points in the upper 60s to lower 70s. To the southwest of the low, a cold front extended back toward Bismarck. Just before 5 pm CDT, a fairly solid line of thunderstorms developed alon…
Flash Flood · Aug 10, 2016. Late in the morning of August 10th, an east to west oriented warm front was located across central South Dakota into the southern half of Minnesota. Thunderstorms formed quickly north of the warm front, mainly along the North and South Dakota border. These storms initially produced large hail. However, as the storms pushed east of the North and South Dakota border region and into portions of west central Minnesota…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2011. The 16th was hot and humid with late afternoon temperatures topping out in the 80s to around 90 and dew point temperatures well into the 70s. This created a large amount of instability. By early in the evening, thunderstorms began to flare up again aided by a weak low level jet.
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 Benson 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.