22 flood insurance claims·$901,085 paid
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 Sweetwater 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.
9% of Sweetwater County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
22 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 1989, with 6 claims and $7,487 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 Sweetwater County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Wyoming flood stories →
4 federal disaster declarations since 1977.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | May 18, 2011 |
| Drought | Jun 15, 1977 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
12 since 1996: 8 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 28, 2021 | $750,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2015 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 6, 2015 | $20,000 |
| Flood | May 30, 2011 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 18, 2024. Showers and thunderstorms developed off the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains mid-afternoon on Sunday the 18th of August. They crossed into southwest Sweetwater County and brought locally heavy rainfall. At around 6 PM, the river gauge on the Henry���s Fork at Manila began to spike and exceeded Flood Stage by 7:30 PM. The gauge crested near 12.5 feet at around 8:45 PM and quickly dropped back below flood stage by…
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2021. Another day of slow-moving thunderstorms produced flooding in Rock Springs. The flooding was much less severe than two days previous and produced little additional damage.
Flash Flood · Jul 28, 2021. Monsoon moisture moved into the state, bring abnormally high precipitable water levels. Thunderstorms formed and moved slowly within very light steering flow, with some storms becoming nearly stationary. At Rock Springs, over two inches of rain fell in under an hour, producing flooding across western portions of the city. Several roads were flooded and were impassable for hours. The force of the flowing water was…
Flash Flood · May 28, 2018. Severe thunderstorms developed over portions of central and southern Wyoming. In Sweetwater County, a tornado formed near Granger. The tornado was photographed by many people. The tornado remained over open country and caused no damage. In addition, flash flooding was reported over rural portions of Sweetwater County. In Fremont County, another tornado briefly touched down southeast of South Pass.
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 Sweetwater 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.