132 flood insurance claims·$951,796 paid·2 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 Oconto 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.
River and standard flooding dominate the flood risk profile in Oconto County, accounting for 23 of the 31 recorded storm events over the last 30 years, alongside 6 lakeshore flood events and 2 flash flood events.
Recent events illustrate these varied hazards. In January 2020, an ice jam and high river stages produced severe flooding in the city of Oconto, which was described as the worst in decades, surrounding homes and businesses and causing an estimated $480,000 in damage. In May 2020, a strong low pressure system generated gusty northeast winds that caused widespread lakeshore flooding along the bay of Green Bay, damaging several homes in northern Brown and southern Oconto counties with over $500,000 in combined damage. Additionally, a May 2022 flash flood driven by repeated rounds of moderate to heavy rain dumped upwards of 7 inches across central Oconto County.
Residents in Zone A should pay the most attention, as this zone accounts for the vast majority of National Flood Insurance Program claims in the county with 110 claims averaging $10,521 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Property owners in shaded Zone X and unmapped zones also hold claims, though in significantly smaller numbers with lower average payouts and water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Oconto County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
120 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 4 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 1986, with 53 claims and $209,793 paid.
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 Oconto County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Wisconsin flood stories →
6 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jul 18, 2019 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Apr 27, 1973 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 2 flash floods, 23 river or area floods and 6 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 12, 2022 | $335,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | Apr 28, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Lakeshore Flood | May 17, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Sep 1, 2020 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jul 1, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 12, 2022. Scattered thunderstorms developed along an instability ribbon from central to northeast Wisconsin during the afternoon hours on Thursday (5/12). The strongest storms produced large hail across this area. Further north, an outflow boundary caused wind damage across portions of north-central Wisconsin. Repeated rounds of moderate to heavy rain dumped upwards of 7 inches of rain across central Oconto County and sou…
Lakeshore Flood · Apr 28, 2020. A strong low pressure system tracking through the southern Great Lakes caused gusty northeast winds across east-central and northeast Wisconsin, which caused some isolated damage and widespread lakeshore flooding in Brown and Oconto counties. The lakeshore flooding damaged several homes near the bay of Green Bay, with over $500,000 of damage in northern Brown and southern Oconto counties. The northeast winds funn…
Lakeshore Flood · May 17, 2020. A strong, slow-moving low pressure system drifted southeast across the upper Midwest over a 3 day period from May 17 through May 19. This system interacted with copious moisture streaming north from the Gulf of Mexico that resulted in several rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall across Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Lower Michigan. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches fell across much of east-central and…
Flood · Sep 1, 2020. Elevated lake levels on Lake Michigan caused some isolated flooded areas near the lake on an ongoing basis.
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 Oconto 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.