Sarpy County, Nebraska

What hazards hit Sarpy County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 251 since 1972. 55% of its hail reports since 1972 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Nebraska's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Sarpy County had?

NOAA records 15 tornadoes in Sarpy County from 1957 to 2024, the strongest rated F4, with 2 deaths and 16 injuries recorded in the county. That is 23rd of 93 Nebraska counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 15 tornadoes whose track touched Sarpy County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 15, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 5 people, 2 of them in Sarpy County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Nebraska.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Sarpy County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 31, 2024 thunderstorm wind ($14.1 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

A line of intense thunderstorms swept across Sarpy county, resulting in widespread significant wind damage. While the greatest measured wind gust was 80 miles per hour, recorded by a mesonet station in Papillion, narrow swaths of enhanced straight line wind damage was consistent with wind speeds closer to 100 miles per hour. One such swath impacted portions of northeast Gretna, where multiple homes had windows blown out, trees uprooted, and large portions of their roofs blown off. Most of this damage was noted around the intersection of 168th Street and Meridian Street. Additionally, numerous powerlines and traffic lights were damaged or blown down across the county. Multiple semis were also noted as being flipped off of the road, one in north Gretna off of 204th street, and another off of Highway 370 in east Gretna. Power outages lasted for several days after the storms moved through. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1206771)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Sarpy County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

55% of its hail reports since 1972 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Sarpy County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Sarpy County: 22 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (12) and flood (8).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Sarpy County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 48 flood or flash flood records for Sarpy County from 1997 to 2025, on 42 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Sarpy County ranks 362nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $21.5 million on 848 claims filed in Sarpy County; the most in one year was 212 in 1993. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Sarpy County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sarpy County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $80.3 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Sarpy County

1. Douglas County 1,272
2. Saunders County 967
3. Cass County 781
4. Pottawattamie County, IA 774
5. Sarpy County 743
6. Mills County, IA 516

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in NebraskaEvery Nebraska tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in NebraskaThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Nebraska recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Sarpy CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Sarpy County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis