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Cole County, MO flood insurance claims history

416 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program on file for flood losses in Cole County since 1979, with $7.6M paid. The worst year was 1993 with 96 claims. Cole County ranks #18 of 107 in Missouri by claim count.

What the Cole County record shows

15% of claims with a zone on file came from outside FEMA's high-risk zones.
20% of all claims trace to one event, Midwest Flooding (1993), which paid $2.3M here.
1993 alone produced 23% of the claims on file.
ZIP codes 65101, 65109 and 65022 hold 96% of claims, out of 13 ZIP codes with any.
May through July accounts for 61% of losses.
Cole County has more claims than any of its 5 neighbors.

NFIP claims

416

1979–2024

Total paid

$7.6M

nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted

Claims paid

89%

369 received a payment

Average payout

$21K

per paid claim

Last 10 years

claims 2017 – 2026

Most recent loss

2024-04-01

data as of 2026-09-08

Look up your ZIP code

Filter by ZIP, year or flood zone to see which floods the claims came from. For a street address, run the printable flood check.

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 96 claims in 1993

'80

'85

'90

'95

'00

'05

'10

'15

'20

Biggest flood events in Cole County

Flood event (FEMA name)	Claims	Paid	Avg / claim	Year
Midwest Flooding	84	$2.3M	$27K	1993
Flooding (FEMA general label)	48	$733K	$15K	1995
Flooding (FEMA general label)	27	$228K	$8K	1986
Flooding (FEMA general label)	23	$95K	$4K	1994
Early winter storms	15	$187K	$12K	2015
Flooding (FEMA general label)	14	$46K	$3K	1990
Late spring severe storms	9	$87K	$10K	2017
Hurricane Ike	8	$103K	$13K	2008
Flooding (FEMA general label)	5	$12K	$2K	1985
Not a named storm	3	$26K	$9K	1982
Late spring storms	2	$0	$0	2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)	2	$61K	$30K	1998

58% of claims here fall under these 12 entries.How to read these labels.

Federal disaster declarations for Cole County

Cole County has been a designated area in 26 declarations since 1973, 23 of them for flooding, storms or hurricanes. None since 2024 — the most recent was DR-4490-MO (2020-03-26).

Declared	FEMA number	Incident	Declared for	Dates of the incident	Aid unlocked here
2020-03-26	DR-4490-MO major disaster	Biological	COVID-19 Pandemic	2020-01-20 → 2023-05-11	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2020-03-13	EM-3482-MO emergency	Biological	COVID-19	2020-01-20 → 2023-05-11	Public Assistance
2019-07-09	DR-4451-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	2019-04-29 → 2019-07-05	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2017-06-02	DR-4317-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding	2017-04-28 → 2017-05-11	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2016-01-21	DR-4250-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	2015-12-23 → 2016-01-09	Individual Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2016-01-02	EM-3374-MO emergency	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	2015-12-22 → 2016-01-09	Public Assistance
2015-08-07	DR-4238-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	2015-05-15 → 2015-07-27	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2011-06-30	EM-3325-MO emergency	Flood	Flooding	2011-06-01 → 2011-08-01	Public Assistance
2011-03-23	DR-1961-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm	2011-01-31 → 2011-02-05	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2011-02-03	EM-3317-MO emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	2011-01-31 → 2011-02-05	Public Assistance
2009-01-30	EM-3303-MO emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	2009-01-26 → 2009-01-28	Public Assistance
2008-03-19	DR-1749-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Flooding	2008-03-17 → 2008-05-09	Public Assistance
2007-12-27	DR-1736-MO major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	2007-12-06 → 2007-12-15	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2007-12-12	EM-3281-MO emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	2007-12-08 → 2007-12-15	Public Assistance
2007-01-15	DR-1676-MO major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms and Flooding	2007-01-12 → 2007-01-22	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2006-12-29	DR-1673-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms	2006-11-30 → 2006-12-02	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2005-09-10	EM-3232-MO emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	2005-08-29 → 2005-10-01	Public Assistance
2003-05-06	DR-1463-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	2003-05-04 → 2003-05-30	Individual Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
1999-04-20	DR-1270-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Flooding	1999-04-03 → 1999-04-14	Individual Assistance
1995-06-02	DR-1054-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Hail, Flooding	1995-05-13 → 1995-06-23	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance
1994-04-21	DR-1023-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding	1994-04-09 → 1994-05-05	Individual Assistance
1993-07-09	DR-995-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	1993-06-10 → 1993-10-25	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance
1986-10-14	DR-779-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	1986-09-18 → 1986-10-15	Individual Assistance
1976-09-24	EM-3017-MO emergency	Drought	Drought	1976-09-24	Public Assistance
1973-11-01	DR-407-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	1973-11-01	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance
1973-04-19	DR-372-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Heavy Rains, Tornadoes & Flooding	1973-04-19	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance

OpenFEMA data through 2026-11-02; only declarations naming Cole County itself are listed. 11 of these 26 opened Individual Assistance here. What a declaration does and does not pay for.

Flood zones in Cole County: which ones the claims came from

High-risk A zones: 346 (83%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 61 (15%)Zone not recorded: 9 (2%)

The most common zone on Cole County claims is Zone A1–A30 — 191 of 407 claims with a zone on file (47%). 85% were in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area.

Flood zone at rating	Claims	Share	Paid	Avg / claim
Zone A1–A30 · high risk, insurance required	191	47%	$2.8M	$15K
Zone AE · high risk, insurance required	103	25%	$2.5M	$24K
Zone A · high risk, insurance required	52	13%	$1.0M	$19K
Zone C · moderate / low risk	29	7%	$434K	$15K
Zone X · moderate / low risk	28	7%	$652K	$23K
Zone B · moderate / low risk	4	1%	$32K	$8K

9 Cole County claims have no zone recorded and are left out of the shares above. Which zones require flood insurance →

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)	Claims	Share
Stream, river or lake overflow	261	63%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt	105	25%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)	25	6%
Other causes	15	4%
Not recorded	7	2%
Alluvial fan overflow	2	0%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Cole County

14 ZIP codes with at least one claim FEMA assigned to Cole County.


65101	275	$4.8M	66%	31	2024
65109	64	$1.9M	15%	18	2022
65022	59	$588K	14%	6	1995
Not reported	7	$105K	2%	4	1985
65302	2	$40K	0%	2	1995
63050	1	$3K	0%	1	1982
65102	1	$6K	0%	1	1995
65023	1	$42K	0%	1	1993
65122	1	$0	0%	1	1983
65053	1	$1K	0%	1	1995
65040	1	$0	0%	1	2015
65107	1	$14K	0%	1	1995
65052	1	$7K	0%	1	1993
65074	1	$10K	0%	1	2015

When does Cole County flood?

May accounts for the most flood losses (113 claims, 27%). Claims by month of loss:

Month	Claims	Share
January	3	1%
February	6	1%
March	1	0%
April	51	12%
May	113	27%
June	42	10%
July	99	24%
August	8	2%
September	27	6%
October	39	9%
November	4	1%
December	23	6%

Year-by-year detail

Year of loss	Claims	Paid
2024	1	$4K
2022	1	$0
2021	10	$316K
2020	8	$189K
2019	26	$1.1M
2017	9	$87K
2016	13	$935K
2015	22	$226K
2014	2	$81K
2013	10	$134K
2011	3	$0
2010	6	$25K
2009	4	$86K
2008	10	$131K
2007	5	$55K
2005	1	$62K
2004	1	$4K
2002	3	$63K
2001	8	$98K
1999	2	$58K
1998	14	$183K
1997	2	$44K
1996	1	$62K
1995	50	$737K
1994	26	$97K
1993	96	$2.3M
1992	3	$12K
1990	17	$55K
1987	3	$9K
1986	27	$228K
1985	11	$108K
1983	13	$23K
1982	4	$26K
1981	3	$609
1979	1	$30K

Neighboring counties

Neighbor	Claims	Paid	Outside high-risk
Cole County (this page)	416	$7.6M	15%
Callaway County	316	$4.5M	5%
Boone County	195	$4.1M	32%
Osage County	180	$3.4M	20%
Miller County	28	$553K	76%
Moniteau County	27	$261K	11%

All 107 Missouri counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Cole County

Has Cole County flooded recently?: The most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2024-04-01, in FEMA data through 2026-09-08. Claims were filed in 6 of the 10 years to 2026 (55 claims).
Has Cole County had a FEMA disaster declaration?: Yes — Cole County has been named a designated area in 26 federal disaster declarations since 1973. The most recent is COVID-19 Pandemic (DR-4490-MO, declared 2020-03-26), which opened Individual Assistance here. There have been none since 2024. See the full list with dates and aid programs →
What flood zone is Cole County in?: No single zone covers a whole county. Across 407 Cole County claims with a zone on file, the most common was Zone A1–A30 (47%), and 85% were in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. For one address, use the flood check.

Look up another place

Source: FEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, FIPS 29051, data as of 2026-09-08. Insured buildings only, never a specific property: see how to check a house and the limits of this data.