81 flood insurance claims·$660,422 paid·14 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 Mercer 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.
4% of Mercer County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
72 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 20 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 2009, with 39 claims and $422,968 paid, the year of Severe Storms 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Mercer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Dakota flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 14 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | Apr 10, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Straight-line Winds | Nov 9, 2022 |
| Flooding | Apr 5, 2011 |
| Flooding | Feb 14, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Apr 1, 2010 |
| Flooding | Feb 26, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 20, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 13, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
12 since 1996: 4 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 11, 2023 | $70,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2018 | $8,000 |
| Flood | Aug 15, 2014 | $2.5M |
| Flood | Jun 2, 2011 | $500,000 |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Aug 1, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 9, 2010 | $45,000 |
| Flood | Mar 6, 2009 | $553,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 11, 2023. The spring snow melt of 2023 saw many areas of flooding over North Dakota due to a record deep snow pack and relatively fast melt. Multiple counties experienced infrastructure damage due to the flooding. In addition, during the morning hours of April 16, a flood death (direct) occurred as a 54 year old female was driving a 2004 Ford Escape along ND Highway 66 near the intersection of 47th Avenue NE, to the northwe…
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2018. An extremely unstable atmosphere combined with very strong deep layer wind shear set the stage for intense thunderstorm development. Initially, thunderstorms were supercells, and formed along a warm front that lifted through North Dakota in the afternoon and evening hours. One of the supercell thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Dunn and Mercer counties, while another produced 3.50 inch diameter hail over Wel…
Flood · Aug 15, 2014. Several waves of heavy rain, with embedded non severe thunderstorms with torrential rain, moved through western and central North Dakota. There was overland, stream, river and flash flooding, mainly over the southern half of the western and central parts of the state. The hardest hit areas were between Williston and Dickinson, and between Bismarck and Jamestown. Up to six inches of rain fell from Kintyre to Napole…
Flood · Jun 2, 2011. This was part of historic flooding in North Dakota with statewide costs estimated around 1.5 billion dollars. Flooding was the result of significant winter snows and significant spring rains, not only in North Dakota but in Montana as well. Rocky Mountain snowpack was four to six times normal. Flooding was along the Missouri River from the Garrison Dam to the South Dakota border. Dams were overwhelmed by the amoun…
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 Mercer 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.