If you lived in Omaha during the summer of 2011, you remember the Missouri River flood. For more than three months—from late May through early September—the river sat at or above flood stage. At its peak on July 2, the water crested at 36.29 feet, more than seven feet above flood stage. Interstate 680 was destroyed. Eppley Airfield spent $22 million fighting the flood and cleaning up afterward. Across Nebraska and Iowa, nearly 1,200 homes were damaged or destroyed, and the total damage exceeded $1 billion.
Here's what most Omaha homeowners don't realize: your standard homeowners insurance policy doesn't cover flood damage. Not a drop. If the Missouri River or Papillion Creek overflows and water gets into your home, you're on your own—unless you have flood insurance. And given what happened in 2011 and again in 2019, that's not a risk you want to take.
Why Omaha Faces Real Flood Risk
Omaha sits at the confluence of the Missouri River and several tributaries, including Papillion Creek. This geography makes the city vulnerable to flooding from multiple sources. The 2011 flood wasn't a freak accident—it was the result of record snowpack in the Rocky Mountains combined with heavy spring rainfall. When the Army Corps of Engineers had to release massive amounts of water from upstream dams to prevent their failure, communities downstream paid the price.
The levee system that protects Omaha is robust, but it's not invincible. The Army Corps spent $580 million repairing levees and dams after 2011. Even with those improvements, climate patterns are changing. Extreme precipitation events are becoming more common, and the river systems that seemed predictable a generation ago are less so today. Just ask anyone who watched the 2019 floods, which came less than a decade after the 2011 disaster and caused billions more in damage across the Midwest.
But here's the thing people miss: you don't have to live right on the river to flood. Heavy rainstorms can overwhelm storm sewers and cause street flooding that backs up into basements. Papillion Creek floods regularly during intense rain events. Even a broken water main or sewer backup can cause water damage that looks exactly like flood damage to your insurance company—and without flood insurance, you're not covered.
What Flood Insurance Actually Covers
Most flood insurance in Omaha comes through the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, which is backed by the federal government. A standard NFIP policy covers up to $250,000 for your home's structure and up to $100,000 for your personal belongings. That includes your foundation, walls, electrical and plumbing systems, HVAC equipment, appliances, and permanently installed items like cabinets and bookcases.
What it doesn't cover: finished basements, currency, precious metals, important papers, most outdoor property, and temporary housing while your home is being repaired. If you have expensive belongings or a home worth more than $250,000, you might need supplemental coverage from a private insurer to fill those gaps.
The cost varies dramatically depending on your flood risk. If you live in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area—basically anywhere FEMA thinks has a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year—your premiums will be higher. Properties in lower-risk areas pay less. On average, Nebraska homeowners pay less than coastal states, but if you're in a flood zone near the Missouri River or Papillion Creek, expect to pay several hundred to over a thousand dollars per year depending on your home's elevation and other risk factors.
Understanding FEMA Flood Maps and Your Risk Zone
FEMA creates detailed flood maps that divide communities into flood zones based on historical data and modeling. If you're in Zone A or AE, you're in a high-risk area—the kind of place where mortgage lenders will require you to carry flood insurance. Zone X means you're in a low-to-moderate risk area where flood insurance is optional but still smart to consider.
Here's the surprising part: more than 20% of flood insurance claims come from properties outside high-risk zones. That means people who thought they were safe ended up with flooded basements anyway. In Omaha, where spring storms can dump inches of rain in hours and snowmelt can overwhelm drainage systems, you can't assume you're protected just because you're not on the riverbank.
You can look up your property's flood zone on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center website. Just plug in your address and you'll see your zone designation, base flood elevation, and other details. If you're in or near a flood zone, or if your home has a basement, flood insurance is worth serious consideration.
Lessons from 2011: What Omaha Homeowners Learned the Hard Way
After the 2011 flood, more than 1,200 Nebraska and Iowa families qualified for federal disaster assistance—grants averaging about $7,000 per household to make homes habitable again. That's helpful, but it's not enough to rebuild. The average flood claim costs tens of thousands of dollars when you factor in structural repairs, replacing HVAC systems, fixing foundations, and remediating mold.
Many homeowners discovered too late that their insurance didn't cover what they thought it did. Some assumed their homeowners policy included flood coverage. Others thought they could buy a policy once flooding was imminent. But flood insurance has a 30-day waiting period before it takes effect—by the time you see a weather forecast predicting heavy rain, it's too late to get covered.
The other lesson from 2011: infrastructure can fail. Levees can be overtopped. Pump stations can be overwhelmed. Roads can wash out, leaving you trapped with no way to evacuate. Flood insurance won't prevent those disasters, but it will give you the financial resources to recover when they happen. And in a city where the Missouri River can stay above flood stage for months at a time, recovery is about endurance, not just emergency response.
How to Get Flood Insurance in Omaha
Getting flood insurance is straightforward. You can buy an NFIP policy through most insurance agents who sell homeowners insurance—it's a federal program, so the rates and coverage are standardized no matter who you buy from. You can also explore private flood insurance, which sometimes offers more coverage options or better pricing depending on your situation.
Before you get a quote, gather some basic information: your address, the year your home was built, whether you have a basement, and your home's estimated replacement cost. If you know your flood zone, that helps, but your agent can look it up for you. Once you apply, the policy takes 30 days to become effective, so don't wait until spring storm season is underway.
If you have a mortgage and you're in a high-risk flood zone, your lender will require you to carry flood insurance. But even if it's not required, consider it anyway. The peace of mind alone is worth it, and the cost is often less than people expect—especially if you're in a moderate-risk area. When you weigh the annual premium against the potential cost of repairing or rebuilding your home after a flood, it's one of the smartest investments you can make.
The 2011 Missouri River flood changed Omaha. It exposed vulnerabilities in infrastructure, tested the limits of emergency response, and left thousands of families scrambling to rebuild. The next flood might not be as severe—or it might be worse. Either way, the lesson is clear: hope for the best, but protect yourself against the worst. Flood insurance is how you do that.
