States › Iowa › 2004

Iowa, 2004

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

2,341events recorded1,646 in 2003

1deaths recorded30 injuries

$39Mproperty damage (estimates)$34M crop damage

1disaster declarations245 NFIP claims, $2.9M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders.

Events by hazard

Hail932

Wind685

Flood256

Winter247

Tornado124

Other50

Cold29

Lightning18

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 2004 was 2,341 against 1,646 in 2003.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 2004
Polk County	68
Story County	64
O'Brien County	58
Woodbury County	52
Clay County	48
Linn County	48
Webster County	46
Boone County	45
Plymouth County	45
Dallas County	44
Guthrie County	42
Madison County	40
Cherokee County	38
Taylor County	37
Cass County	36
Benton County	33
Sioux County	33
Jasper County	32
Marshall County	32
Cerro Gordo County	31
Ringgold County	31
Decatur County	30
Harrison County	30
Ida County	30
Adair County	29

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
23 May 2004	Buchanan	Flash Flood	—	—	1	1
21 May 2004	Humboldt	Tornado	F2	$2,500,000	—	15
1 May 2004	Polk	Dust Devil	—	—	—	5
22 May 2004	Adams	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	$50,000	—	2
22 May 2004	Story	Lightning	—	—	—	2
24 May 2004	Sac	Thunderstorm Wind	70 mph	$80,000	—	1
26 Aug 2004	Linn	Thunderstorm Wind	70 mph	$20,000	—	1
12 Jun 2004	Union	Thunderstorm Wind	58 mph	$2,000	—	1
3 Aug 2004	Pottawattamie	Lightning	—	—	—	1
27 Aug 2004	Polk	Lightning	—	—	—	1
22 May 2004	Clayton	Flood	—	$700,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Fayette	Flood	—	$500,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Winneshiek	Flood	—	$400,000	—	—
21 May 2004	Clay	Hail	4.25 in	$500,000	—	—
21 May 2004	Clay	Hail	4.25 in	$500,000	—	—
11 Jun 2004	Clay	Tornado	F2	$500,000	—	—
16 Jun 2004	Woodbury	Flash Flood	—	$500,000	—	—
29 Oct 2004	Henry	Thunderstorm Wind	90 mph	$450,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Audubon	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Adair	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Adams	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Appanoose	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Polk	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Poweshiek	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Ringgold	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Sac	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Story	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Tama	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Taylor	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Union	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Wayne	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Webster	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Winnebago	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Worth	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Wright	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Black Hawk	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Boone	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Bremer	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Butler	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—
22 May 2004	Calhoun	Flood	—	$100,000	—	—

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 2004

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
25 May 2004	DR-1518	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	77

Flood insurance claims with a 2004 date of loss

245 NFIP claims, 200 of them paid, for $2,939,626.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (29 Sep 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 30 Sep 2026.