12 flood insurance claims·$293,642 paid·1 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 Shawano 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.
The worst year was 2019, with 5 claims and $96,649 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and 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.
1 NOAA storm reports from Shawano County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Wisconsin flood stories →
8 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 1 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 And Flooding | May 7, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Sep 2, 2002 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding | Jun 7, 1993 |
| Drought | Jun 17, 1976 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
9 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 27, 2016 | — |
| Flood | Sep 23, 2010 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2006 | — |
| Flood | Apr 1, 2005 | — |
| Flood | Mar 28, 2004 | — |
| Flood | Apr 17, 2003 | — |
| Flood | Jul 10, 2000 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 29, 2025. Thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front during the afternoon hours on Sunday (6/29) across central and east-central Wisconsin. The strongest storms produced damaging winds, hail up to half dollar size, and flash flooding as 2 to 3 inches of rain fell across the area.
Flood · Jul 27, 2016. Slow moving thunderstorms, in a moist and very unstable air mass in the vicinity of a nearly stationary front, produced isolated wind damage and minor flooding in central Wisconsin. Rainfall from the storms was heavy enough to cause street flooding near and west of Edgar (Marathon Co.) and in Birnamwood (Shawano Co.).
Flood · Sep 23, 2010. An excessive rainfall event, with amounts of 3 to 6 inches, occurred across parts of central and northeast Wisconsin starting on the evening of September 22 and lasting through the morning hours of September 23. The initial band of heavy rain formed along a warm front that extended across north-central Wisconsin. Additional rains were a result of a cold front that moved across the state on September 23.||The hea…
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2006. As thunderstorms slowly trekked across central Wisconsin they produced heavy rainfall that caused flash flooding in Marathon county and Shawano county. Rain flooded roads with 10 to 12 inches of water near the Wausau Hospital (Marathon co.), flooded ditches southeast of Wausau, caused water to pond on Highway 29 near Wittenberg (Shawano co.) and flooded ditches, streets and basements in Tigerton (Shawano co.). A…
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 Shawano 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.