Benton, IA
Benton County in Iowa has 9 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1965–2016, most recently Severe Storms and Flooding on Oct 31, 2016 (DR-4289). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #1249 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 4 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $95,216 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Benton County
The 9 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Benton County, IA (1965–2016). Total declarations on record: 9.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2016 | Flood | Severe Storms and Flooding | DR-4289 |
| Sep 10, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | DR-3239 |
| Jun 19, 2002 | Flood | Severe Storms and Flooding | DR-1420 |
| Jul 2, 1998 | Flood | Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding | DR-1230 |
| Jul 9, 1993 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-996 |
| Apr 26, 1993 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-986 |
| Jun 24, 1974 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-443 |
| Aug 14, 1969 | Flood | Heavy Rains & Flooding | DR-269 |
| Apr 22, 1965 | Flood | Flooding | DR-193 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 12 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in Iowa
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | A | 12 | 2 | 9 |
| Audubon | A | 12 | 0 | 8 |
| Buena Vista | A | 12 | 0 | 8 |
| Carroll | A | 12 | 0 | 8 |
| Cass | A | 12 | 0 | 8 |
| Clay | A | 12 | 12 | 8 |
More Counties in Iowa
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Benton County, IA have?
Benton County, IA has 9 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1965–2016). The 5 most recent are: Severe Storms and Flooding (declared Oct 31, 2016, DR-4289); Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (declared Sep 10, 2005, DR-3239); Severe Storms and Flooding (declared Jun 19, 2002, DR-1420); Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding (declared Jul 2, 1998, DR-1230); Severe Storms & Flooding (declared Jul 9, 1993, DR-996). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Benton County, IA?
Benton County is graded A (composite score 12/100, low risk). It ranks #1249 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).
How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Benton County?
4 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Benton County, IA, totaling $95,216 in payouts. The average claim is $23,804. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Benton County, IA had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Benton County was Severe Storms and Flooding on Oct 31, 2016 (DR-4289). The county has 9 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1965–2016.
The this entity record above pulls directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
The methodology behind every numeric value on this page is publicly documented on the FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims portal and described in detail on this site’s methodology page. Refresh cadence varies by underlying series; the page surfaces the as-of date for each number so readers can trace any figure back to the source release.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.