Black Hawk, IA
Black Hawk County in Iowa has 10 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 #941 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 30 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $643,387 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Black Hawk County
The 10 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Black Hawk County, IA (1965–2016). Total declarations on record: 10.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Jul 12, 1991 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-911 |
| Sep 6, 1990 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-879 |
| Aug 14, 1969 | Flood | Heavy Rains & Flooding | DR-269 |
| Aug 4, 1968 | Flood | Heavy Rains & Flooding | DR-248 |
| Apr 22, 1965 | Flood | Flooding | DR-193 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 13 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in Iowa
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubuque | A | 13 | 3 | 11 |
| Lee | A | 13 | 2 | 10 |
| Fayette | A | 13 | 3 | 11 |
| Franklin | A | 13 | 0 | 11 |
| Iowa | A | 13 | 1 | 10 |
| Marshall | A | 13 | 0 | 10 |
More Counties in Iowa
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Black Hawk County, IA have?
Black Hawk County, IA has 10 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, Tornadoes and Flooding (declared Jul 2, 1998, DR-1230); Severe Storms & Flooding (declared Jul 9, 1993, DR-996); Severe Storms & Flooding (declared Apr 26, 1993, DR-986). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Black Hawk County, IA?
Black Hawk County is graded A (composite score 13/100, low risk). It ranks #941 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 Black Hawk County?
30 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Black Hawk County, IA, totaling $643,387 in payouts. The average claim is $21,446. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Black Hawk County, IA had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Black Hawk County was Severe Storms and Flooding on Oct 31, 2016 (DR-4289). The county has 10 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1965–2016.
For this entity, the underlying data on this page comes from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. The breakdown above is the federal record; the paragraphs below add the per-entity context that makes the headline numbers usable for a real decision rather than just a data lookup.
Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
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.