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December 2007                                                                                              Volume 13 - Number 3

Summary of 2007 Flood Events in the United States
by Amy Bergbreiter

In a year where droughts and fires commanded headlines on the east and west coast, flooding dominated the central states.  Several states recorded record rainfalls, and over 40 flood-based presidential disaster declarations were made.

May was a rainy month for the central United States.  Between May 4th and May 8th, a severe weather system resulted in flooding warning from South Dakota to southern Texas.  Some regions received over 15 inches of rain.  Kansas, Nebraska, Okalahoma, South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri all received Presidential Disaster Declarations related to this storm system.  Kansas received the most federal funding for recovery, including an approved $62 million.  Over 4,500 Kansas residents registered for aid from 24 designated disaster counties.  The next largest approved aid amount was for South Dakota at over $32 million.

In late June, a large weather system caused major flooding throughout Texas.  In some locations the state received over 19 inches of rainfall in only 24 hours.  Texas received more than three times its average rainfall between June 13 and July 7.  It was estimated over 20 people were killed during this rainfall event.  Texas applied for federal disaster aid due to the extreme flooding, and received over $88 million from FEMA and the SBA.  Over 14,000 families and individual registered for federal assistance after multiple counties were declared disaster areas.  By the end of June, Austin, Texas, had received over 30 inches of rain, making it the wettest year on record.

Although no major hurricanes made landfall in the United States, remnants of Tropical Storm Erin caused major flooding in both Texas and Oklahoma in late August, killing at least six people in Central Oklahoma.  At the same time Erin was flooding Oklahoma and Texas, a line of storms was flooding the upper Great Plains regions.  These two storm systems then crashed together in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley areas and caused significant damage.  More than 20 people were killed.  The storms impacted over 7,500 Oklahomans, with a combined Federal disaster aid from FEMA and the SBA of over $30 million.

For Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, many cities recorded record rainfall during August.  In La Cross Wisconsin, a new monthly precipitation record was set with over 17 inches of rainfall. More than $12 million federal aid was approved for 14 counties in Wisconsin to help recover from this event.  

During 2007, Oklahoma required the most federal disaster declarations due to flooding with five separate declarations.  2007 was a more active year than 2006, as only 36 disasters were declared in 2006 compared to the over 40 declared during 2007.

References:
FEMA Disaster Declaration Data:  http://www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema
NASA Earth Observatory Reports: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/