192 flood insurance claims·$969,918 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 Laramie County, Wyoming. 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.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Laramie County, Wyoming, accounting for 86 recorded events over the last 30 years compared to 6 standard flood events. This severe weather is driven by monsoon moisture pushing into southeast Wyoming to produce widespread showers, intense rainfall rates, and urban flooding, as occurred in Cheyenne during July 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 73 claims with an average payout of $8,980 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone A recorded 61 claims with an average payout of $8,319 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone X recorded 31 claims with an average payout of $7,949 and an average water depth of 35 inches. Zone X_SHADED recorded 27 claims with an average payout of $5,965 and an average water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone X_UNSHADED and Zone A, which together account for the highest concentration of historical flood insurance claims in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
62% of Laramie County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
161 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 6 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 1985, with 77 claims and $592,692 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Hail & 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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Laramie County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Wyoming flood stories →
5 federal disaster declarations since 1979, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Happy Jack Fire | Mar 1, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Hail & Flooding | Aug 7, 1985 |
| Severe Storms & Tornadoes | Jul 19, 1979 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
92 since 1996: 86 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 21, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2023 | $60,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 11, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 6, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 24, 2025. A surge of monsoon moisture brought strong thunderstorms to southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska the afternoon and evening of July 24th. Strong winds, hail, and flash flooding were reported with storms.
Flash Flood · Jul 23, 2025. A push of monsoon moisture into southeast Wyoming lead to the development of widespread showers and storms that eventually converged over the city of Cheyenne. Intense rainfall lead to impressive rainfall rates, resulting in urban flooding across the city.
Flash Flood · Jun 20, 2024. An intense supercell thunderstorm originated near Chugwater, Wyoming, during the early to mid afternoon hours on 6/20, tracking across southern Platte and Goshen counties through approximately 3:00 PM MDT before moving into the western Nebraska Panhandle. Storm chasers reported extremely large and destructive hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter along with wind gusts in excess of 70 MPH, noting that they had never se…
Flash Flood · Jun 21, 2023. Showers and thunderstorms initially developed over the higher terrain of the Laramie Range late in the afternoon on 6/21, rapidly increasing in both coverage and intensity as they tracked slowly eastward through the evening. This activity evolved into a large, slow moving cluster of moderate to heavy rain and embedded thunderstorms, with pockets of small to marginally severe (quarter to half dollar sized) hail ass…
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 Laramie 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.