15 flood insurance claims·$104,731 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 Polk 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 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 2023, with 2 claims and $41,513 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.
2 NOAA storm reports from Polk County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Wisconsin flood stories →
10 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Sep 2, 2002 |
| Flooding, Severe Storms And Tornadoes | Apr 10, 2001 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 26, 2000 |
| Winds, Hail & Rain | Aug 5, 1977 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
| Tornadoes, Severe Storms & Flooding | Apr 21, 1965 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
11 since 1996: 7 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Mar 15, 2019 | $18,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2012 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2010 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2005 | — |
| Flood | Oct 4, 2005 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2005 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Mar 15, 2019. There were many factors that led to a severe Spring flood melt along the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers and several of their tributaries during the last two weeks of March. The first factor was above average snowpack for mid March. Additionally, the added effect of a cold late Winter kept this snowpack deeper into the early Spring. Once temperatures warmed, and snow began to melt, a few storms led to additional wa…
Flash Flood · Sep 17, 2015. Several waves of thunderstorms moved across east central Minnesota, and into west central Wisconsin during the morning of Thursday, September, 17th. These storms dropped up to 5-6 inches of rain in Barron County before 9 AM LST. There were reports of washed out roads near Cameron, Barron and Chetek. Heavy rainfall, and associated runoff, also caused several creeks near Bloomer in Chippewa County to flood and cause…
Flash Flood · May 27, 2012. Bands of thunderstorms developed during the evening of Sunday, May 27th, across portions of southwest, and east central Minnesota. The storms that moved from east central Minnesota, northeast into west central Wisconsin, became severe, along with several rounds of the storms in Polk County. This caused flash flooding in the county, along with rainfall amounts as high as 2 to 4 inches in less than 3 hours. In add…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2011. A small complex of thunderstorms developed across central Minnesota, and moved southeast across the northern Twin Cities Metro area and portions of west central Wisconsin, produced locally four to six inches of rainfall in less than 4 hours.||The worst areas were in the town of Woodmohr, and east of the city of Bloomer. A few roads were closed due to the flooding including;||The intersection of County Road GG & S…
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 Polk 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.