10 flood insurance claims·$55,786 paid·11 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 Pierce 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.
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 1999, with 6 claims and $45,786 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, and Tor.
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.
3 NOAA storm reports from Pierce County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the North Dakota flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 11 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Flooding | Mar 23, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 25, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 17, 2013 |
| Flooding | Feb 14, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 13, 2009 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Record And/or Near Record Snow | Oct 4, 2005 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Ground Saturation | Jun 1, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
5 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2024 | $35,000 |
| Flood | Mar 6, 2009 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2009 | $271,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2005 | — |
| Flood | Aug 12, 1999 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 16, 2024. Thunderstorms formed to the north of a surface frontal zone in an area of elevated instability. Some storms became severe, producing large hail. The largest hail was the size of a tennis ball, which fell to the southwest of Voltaire in McHenry County. In addition to the hail, torrential rain fell with these storms. This led to flash flooding in Pierce County to the south and southeast of Balta and north of Highway…
Flood · Mar 6, 2009. This devastating flooding continued into April, and in some cases worsened.||Western and central North Dakota experienced a snowy winter of 2008-2009. Bismarck, for example, had the snowiest December on record, which was also the snowiest month ever on record, with 33.3 inches of snow in December 2008. March 2009 was the fifth snowiest month on record with 29.7 inches. For the entire season Bismarck ended up the s…
Flood · Apr 1, 2009. Western and central North Dakota experienced a snowy winter of 2008-2009. Bismarck, for example, had the snowiest December on record, which was also the snowiest month ever on record, with 33.3 inches of snow in December 2008. March 2009 was the fifth snowiest month on record with 29.7 inches. For the entire season Bismarck ended up the second snowiest on record with 100.3 inches. A similar scenario played out all…
Flood · Aug 12, 1999. Heavy rainfall of 3 to 6 inches were common throughout the three county area. Main flood problems wereflooded streets and underpasses in urban areas. In open country ditches filled rapidly overrunning countyroads.
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 Pierce 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.