2 flood insurance claims·$10,347 paid·6 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 Iron County, Wisconsin. 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 1 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 Iron County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Wisconsin flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Landslides | Aug 17, 2018 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 15, 2018 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 11, 2016 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Flooding, Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Apr 10, 2001 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 26, 2000 |
| Flood-07/20/99 | Jul 4, 1999 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
9 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2016 | $1,000 · 1 killed |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2013 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2005 | — |
| Flood | Apr 12, 2002 | $1.3M |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 1996 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2018. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms along a stationary boundary starting Friday, June 15th, and persisting through the day June 16th, acted to saturate soils across northwest Wisconsin. Another round of training storms developed the night of the 16th, fed by a moist low-level jet. Training storms and slow storm motion led to heavy rainfall across Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland and Iron counties. Three day rainfall amount…
Flash Flood · Jun 15, 2018. A warm front was located across central Minnesota into southwest Wisconsin. Low level flow maintained the influx of moisture and warm air as a shortwave topped a ridge in place to the west. This led to storms throughout much of the day, a few of which were severe with damaging winds and hail. The storms also contained heavy rainfall which primed parts of the area for major flash flooding the following night.
Flash Flood · Jul 11, 2016. Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to northwest Wisconsin early Monday, July 11th which helped to saturate the soil. During the day a strong low level jet pumped very moist air into the region. The jet and a west to east stationary front were the triggers for thunderstorms that developed later in the day. Rounds of thunderstorms brought some damaging winds to parts of northwest Wisconsin late Monday afternoon and ev…
Flood · Apr 30, 2013. A rapidly melting deep snow pack with a water equivalent of up to 6 inches, combined with heavy rain caused widespread flooding across the northern tier of far northwest Wisconsin. Numerous roads were inundated and closed. The flooding continued into early May.
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 Iron 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.