454 flood insurance claims·$4.2M paid·7 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 Lane County, Oregon. 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.
River flooding from Pacific frontal systems and snowmelt dominates Lane County, supported by historical records showing 34 standard flood events compared to only 1 flash flood over the last 30 years. Recent flood events occurred in February 2025, when a strengthening low-pressure system brought high winds, warmer temperatures, and rainfall that facilitated localized flooding. Additional localized river flooding occurred in March 2025 due to a combination of ample rainfall and snowmelt driven by successive Pacific troughs and warm-frontal boundaries.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties in Zone A have experienced the highest volume of impacts with 332 claims averaging $13,648 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Zone X_SHADED properties recorded the highest average payout at $26,114 with an average water depth of 11 inches, while standard Zone X properties recorded 52 claims with an average depth of 3 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents representing properties near rivers and within designated high-risk zones, such as Zone A and Zone X_SHADED, should pay the closest attention to flood preparedness and insurance requirements.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Lane County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
371 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 12 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 1996, with 229 claims and $2.4M paid, the year of High Winds, Severe Storms and Flooding, Flooding, Land, Mud Slides, High Winds,severe Storms, Severe Storms and High Winds and Severe Winter Storms, Land and Mudslides, 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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Lane County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oregon flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1964, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Landslides, And Mudslides | Jan 10, 2024 |
| Cedar Creek Fire | Sep 9, 2022 |
| Holiday Farm Fire | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Sep 8, 2020 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Sep 7, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 23, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Flooding | Dec 14, 2016 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 6, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
35 since 1996: 1 flash floods and 34 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 23, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 16, 2025 | $30,000 |
| Flood | Mar 16, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Dec 3, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 20, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jan 12, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Dec 20, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 23, 2025. A strengthening upper-level low and an associated strong low pressure system at the surface tracked just off the Pacific Northwest coast leading to a period of high winds. Warmer temperatures, additional rainfall and prior snowfall to this event facilitated localized flooding as well. The frontal passage during the early afternoon hours of Feb 24th allowed for a period of isolated severe thunderstorms later that a…
Flood · Mar 16, 2025. Two quick hitting shortwave troughs brought widespread and sustained precipitation to the western Oregon allowing for heavy snowfall across the Cascades. A third deep upper trough then quickly followed as well, and due to an accompanying warm-frontal boundary localized river flooding developed due to a combination of ample rainfall and snowmelt.
Flood · Dec 3, 2023. A pair of moderate atmospheric rivers brought heavy rain leading to minor river and urban flooding to portions of northwest Oregon.
Flood · Dec 20, 2021. Heavy rain fell across parts of northwest Oregon along with minor river flooding. The heaviest rain fell along and just north of a front that held nearly stationary from Newport to Albany to Mount Jefferson.
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 Lane 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.