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Phelps County, MO flood insurance claims history

305 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program on file for flood losses in Phelps County since 1979, with $11.6M paid. The worst year was 2008 with 41 claims. Phelps County ranks #24 of 107 in Missouri by claim count.

What the Phelps County record shows

27% of claims with a zone on file came from outside FEMA's high-risk zones, well above the 14% across Missouri.
12% of all claims trace to one event, Early winter storms (2015), which paid $2.3M here.
Per claim, the costliest named event was Late spring severe storms (2017), averaging $100K across 29 claims.
Claims came in just 3 of the 10 years to 2026.
2016–2025 brought 38 claims, 73% fewer than 2006–2015 (139). Counts also move with how many buildings held a policy.
The average paid claim is $42K, above the Missouri average of $23K (nominal dollars).
ZIP codes 65401, 65550 and 65529 hold 95% of claims, out of 9 ZIP codes with any.
Gasconade County has the most claims among its neighbors (445, against 305 here).

NFIP claims

305

1979–2024

Total paid

$11.6M

nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted

Claims paid

89%

272 received a payment

Average payout

$42K

per paid claim

Last 10 years

claims 2017 – 2026

Most recent loss

2024-11-06

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: 41 claims in 2008

'80

'85

'90

'95

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'05

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'15

'20

Biggest flood events in Phelps County

Flood event (FEMA name)	Claims	Paid	Avg / claim	Year
Early winter storms	38	$2.3M	$60K	2015
March storm	36	$1.7M	$47K	2008
Late spring severe storms	29	$2.9M	$100K	2017
Mid-spring storms	12	$194K	$16K	2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)	6	$47K	$8K	1985
Flooding (FEMA general label)	2	$12K	$6K	1998
Early winter storms	1	$2K	$2K	2016
Hurricane Ike	1	$3K	$3K	2008
Flooding (FEMA general label)	1	$1K	$1K	1986
Flooding (FEMA general label)	1	$1K	$1K	1994

42% of claims here fall under these 10 entries.How to read these labels.

Federal disaster declarations for Phelps County

Phelps County has been a designated area in 25 declarations since 1976, 22 of them for flooding, storms or hurricanes. Since 2024 it has been included in 2: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Wildfires (DR-4867-MO, 2025), Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding (DR-4855-MO, 2025).

Declared	FEMA number	Incident	Declared for	Dates of the incident	Aid unlocked here
2025-05-21	DR-4867-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Wildfires	2025-03-14 → 2025-03-15	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance
2025-01-01	DR-4855-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	2024-11-03 → 2024-11-09	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
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
2017-06-02	DR-4317-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding	2017-04-28 → 2017-05-11	Individual Assistance, 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, Public 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
2013-09-06	DR-4144-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding	2013-08-02 → 2013-08-14	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2011-05-09	DR-1980-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	2011-04-19 → 2011-06-06	Individual Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2011-02-03	EM-3317-MO emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	2011-01-31 → 2011-02-05	Public Assistance
2009-06-19	DR-1847-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	2009-05-08 → 2009-05-16	Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
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	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation
2008-02-05	DR-1742-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding	2008-01-07 → 2008-01-10	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
2006-03-16	DR-1631-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding	2006-03-08 → 2006-03-13	Individual 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
2002-05-06	DR-1412-MO major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding	2002-04-24 → 2002-06-10	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
1982-12-10	DR-672-MO major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms and Flooding	1982-12-10	Individual Assistance, Public Assistance
1976-09-24	EM-3017-MO emergency	Drought	Drought	1976-09-24	Public Assistance

OpenFEMA data through 2026-11-02; only declarations naming Phelps County itself are listed. 11 of these 25 opened Individual Assistance here. What a declaration does and does not pay for.

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

High-risk A zones: 215 (70%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 78 (26%)Zone not recorded: 12 (4%)

The most common zone on Phelps County claims is Zone A — 159 of 293 claims with a zone on file (54%). 73% were in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area.

Flood zone at rating	Claims	Share	Paid	Avg / claim
Zone A · high risk, insurance required	159	54%	$7.5M	$47K
Zone X · moderate / low risk	62	21%	$2.7M	$44K
Zone AE · high risk, insurance required	39	13%	$999K	$26K
Zone A1–A30 · high risk, insurance required	14	5%	$75K	$5K
Zone C · moderate / low risk	8	3%	$136K	$17K
Zone B · moderate / low risk	8	3%	$39K	$5K
Zone AO · high risk, insurance required	3	1%	$2K	$759

12 Phelps 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	190	62%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt	86	28%
Other causes	14	5%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)	13	4%
Erosion (pre-1995 code)	1	0%
Not recorded	1	0%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Phelps County

10 ZIP codes with at least one claim FEMA assigned to Phelps County.


65401	139	$3.5M	46%	24	2024
65550	82	$3.7M	27%	14	2024
65529	68	$3.7M	22%	8	2024
65559	6	$272K	2%	5	2024
Not reported	3	$22K	1%	2	1993
65459	2	$35K	1%	2	2017
65400	2	$82K	1%	2	1993
65461	1	$50K	0%	1	2017
65560	1	$110K	0%	1	2015
65436	1	$34K	0%	1	1993

When does Phelps County flood?

April accounts for the most flood losses (49 claims, 16%). Claims by month of loss:

Month	Claims	Share
January	2	1%
February	7	2%
March	41	13%
April	49	16%
May	38	12%
June	16	5%
July	32	10%
August	42	14%
September	27	9%
October	4	1%
November	9	3%
December	38	12%

Year-by-year detail

Year of loss	Claims	Paid
2024	7	$402K
2019	1	$0
2017	29	$2.9M
2016	1	$2K
2015	38	$2.3M
2013	39	$2.2M
2011	12	$194K
2010	1	$205
2009	7	$17K
2008	41	$1.8M
2007	1	$2K
2003	7	$273K
2002	13	$198K
1998	33	$372K
1997	15	$111K
1996	1	$8K
1994	2	$2K
1993	29	$778K
1991	5	$21K
1990	1	$0
1986	1	$1K
1985	15	$50K
1984	1	$258
1982	1	$0
1981	3	$12K
1979	1	$117

Neighboring counties

Neighbor	Claims	Paid	Outside high-risk
Phelps County (this page)	305	$11.6M	27%
Gasconade County	445	$8.1M	10%
Pulaski County	267	$7.0M	23%
Crawford County	125	$6.1M	37%
Maries County	101	$3.0M	9%
Texas County	15	$310K	50%
Dent County	5	$27K	0%

All 107 Missouri counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Phelps County

Has Phelps County flooded recently?: The most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2024-11-06, in FEMA data through 2026-09-08. Claims were filed in 3 of the 10 years to 2026 (37 claims).
Has Phelps County had a FEMA disaster declaration?: Yes — Phelps County has been named a designated area in 25 federal disaster declarations since 1976. The most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Wildfires (DR-4867-MO, declared 2025-05-21), which opened Individual Assistance here. Since 2024 there have been 2. See the full list with dates and aid programs →
What flood zone is Phelps County in?: No single zone covers a whole county. Across 293 Phelps County claims with a zone on file, the most common was Zone A (54%), and 73% 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 29161, 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.