Missouri floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 115 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 10,821 floods and flash floods in Missouri from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 358 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the December 26, 2015 flash flood: 15 deaths and $55.8 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 33 records. Missouri ranks 2nd of 52 states and territories by count and 14th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in Missouri, 1996 to 2026
Flood records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 10,8211996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 358average
- Deaths
- 15956 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $2.7Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 2015768 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are floods and flash floods common in Missouri?
Missouri averages about 358 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 2nd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2015 (768). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Missouri records 1574 floods and flash floods since 1996, 14th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Missouri have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Cape Girardeau County leads Missouri: 183 days with a flood since 1996, 316.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Greene County has the most flood records (415 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is flood season in Missouri?
Missouri's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is May (2,196 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 491 · Feb 432 · Mar 1,026 · Apr 1,524 · May 2,196 · Jun 1,792 · Jul 1,093 · Aug 822 · Sep 464 · Oct 327 · Nov 311 · Dec 343 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in Missouri?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-12-26 | Flash FloodCrocker, Pulaski County One storm episode: 33 records in 27 places, 2015-12-26 to 2015-12-28; the totals are the episode's. A slow moving and strong weather system caused several rounds of very heavy and record breaking rainfall to occur across the Missouri Ozarks which led to historic and deadly flooding. | 15 | 0 | $56M | |
| 1998-10-04 | Flash FloodKansas City, Jackson County One storm episode: 5 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. Thunderstorms containing very heavy rainfall over West Central Missouri on October 4th resulted in several episodes of major flash flooding. The most deadly and costly flooding occurred in Jackson County where nine people lost their lives on the evening of October 4th. The Kansas City metropolitan area experienced the ... | 10 | 0 | $52M | |
| 2026-06-14 | FloodWildwood Estates, Greene County One storm episode: 46 records in 14 places; the totals are the episode's. Severe thunderstorms with tornadoes and damaging winds occurred late in the evening of June 13, 2026. Repeated rounds of heavy rainfall caused flash flooding and river flooding. Between 3 and 6 inches of rainfall fell with this system. Some fatalities occurred from the flooding. | 5 | 1 | $70K | |
| 2008-09-14 | Flash FloodClayton, St. Louis County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A cold front moved through the region and interacted with the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Widespread heavy rain was reported across Missouri and Illinois causing major flooding across the region. Many small creeks in the St. Louis Metropolitan area that had not flooded for years became raging rivers flooding roads, ... | 4 | 0 | – | |
| 2024-11-05 | FloodManes, Wright County One storm episode: 10 records in 8 places, 2024-11-05 to 2024-11-08; the totals are the episode's. Multiple rounds of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms brought severe weather and flooding to southwest Missouri from November 4-5, 2024. A corridor of very heavy rainfall east of Springfield caused several rivers to reach major flood stage, with some locations experiencing record flooding. A total of four tornadoes were ... | 4 | 0 | $50M | |
| 2023-03-23 | Flash FloodGrovespring, Wright County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. The most impactful storm system to affect the region during the month of March began during the late afternoon and early evening of the 23rd as strong to severe thunderstorms trained along and north of a front that had stalled over northwest Arkansas and south central Missouri. While the storms produced sporadic wind ... | 3 | 2 | – | |
| 2019-11-30 | Flash FloodSedgewickville, Bollinger County Flash flooding of two creeks resulted in two separate fatal incidents involving vehicles swept off roads. In the first incident, a vehicle carrying four people was swept away at the low water crossing of the Little Whitewater Creek on County Road 356. This location is several miles south of Sedgwickville. Two of the ... | 3 | 2 | $58K | |
| 2009-10-30 | FloodStringtown, Butler County Flooding of roads and creeks was fairly widespread. Numerous county roads were under water. A portion of Highway N was closed. Several water rescues were conducted as motorists drove into flooded areas. Three teenagers drowned after their vehicle went into a flooded creek following a crash with another vehicle. The ... | 3 | 1 | – | |
| 2013-08-06 | Flash FloodWaynesville, Pulaski County One storm episode: 13 records in 12 places, 2013-08-06 to 2013-08-10; the totals are the episode's. A stalled frontal boundary led to multiple rounds of thunderstorms which trained over the same areas and produced intense rainfall rates and rainfall totals. Most areas received between one and five inches of rainfall with some localized areas receiving up to 20 inches of rainfall in several days. This caused ... | 3 | 0 | $24M | |
| 2024-11-04 | Flash FloodBrentwood, St. Louis County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Overnight on Sunday, November 3rd, a shield of rain and thunderstorms moved into the bi-state area. By Monday morning, persistent rainfall resulted in fatal flash flooding in southeast Missouri, with one fatality occurring in Iron County. Later on Monday evening, a QLCS produced two EF-0 tornadoes in east-central ... | 3 | 0 | $245K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest floods and flash floods in Missouri
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-07-01 | FloodBlairstown, Henry County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $712M | |
| 2011-05-02 | Flash FloodBirds Pt, Mississippi County One storm episode: 9 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $387M | |
| 2015-12-28 | FloodBourbon, Crawford County One storm episode: 10 records in 10 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $303M | |
| 2000-05-07 | Flash FloodCountywide, Franklin County | 2 | 0 | $171M | |
| 2022-07-26 | Flash FloodCarondelet, St. Louis (city) One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $146M | |
| 2017-04-30 | Flash FloodCrocker, Pulaski County One storm episode: 28 records in 26 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $139M | |
| 2008-06-03 | FloodMark, Marion County One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places, 2008-06-03 to 2008-06-04; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $82M | |
| 2015-12-26 | Flash FloodCrocker, Pulaski County One storm episode: 33 records in 27 places, 2015-12-26 to 2015-12-28; the totals are the episode's. | 15 | 0 | $56M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are floods and flash floods becoming more frequent in Missouri?
Missouri's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Missouri | United States | Missouri's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 1,271 | 20,986 | 6.1% |
| 2000s | 3,594 | 54,913 | 6.5% |
| 2010s | 3,696 | 68,322 | 5.4% |
| 2020-26 | 2,260 | 43,563 | 5.2% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in Missouri
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-27 | FloodLawndale, Ozark County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | FloodSycamore, Ozark County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | FloodColdspring, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | FloodRockbridge, Ozark County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | Flash FloodDenlow, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | Flash FloodMansfield, Wright County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | Flash FloodMountain Grove, Wright County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-27 | Flash FloodAnn, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-26 | Flash FloodDillon, Phelps County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-26 | Flash FloodDillon, Phelps County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-26 | FloodAnn, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-26 | FloodSeymour, Webster County | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for floods and flash floods in Missouri
FEMA has declared 68 disasters in Missouri for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 65 were major disasters, the latest on September 1, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4939 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 9 |
| 2026-08-03 | DR-4929 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 34 |
| 2026-06-30 | DR-4924 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 10 |
| 2025-07-22 | DR-4885 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 5 |
| 2025-06-09 | DR-4877 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 3 |
| 2025-06-09 | DR-4876 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 6 |
| 2025-05-21 | DR-4872 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 27 |
| 2025-01-01 | DR-4855 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 14 |
| 2024-07-23 | DR-4803 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 15 |
| 2023-09-21 | DR-4741 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 33 |
| 2022-08-08 | DR-4665 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 4 |
| 2021-09-01 | DR-4612 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 21 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Cape Girardeau County: the county's whole recordThe Missouri county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
- Floods across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in MissouriTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Hail in Missouri20,443 records
- Severe thunderstorm wind in Missouri20,293 records
- Winter storms in Missouri6,559 records