States › Iowa › Pottawattamie County › ZIP 51542
ZIP code 51542, Pottawattamie County, Iowa
National Flood Insurance Program claims and payouts recorded for this ZIP code, with county context.
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. NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.
ZIP code 51542, in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, has 8 National Flood Insurance Program claims in the OpenFEMA record since 1978, 7 of them paid for a total of $287K.
That is 0.9% of the 867 claims recorded across Pottawattamie County. The average paid claim in the ZIP is $41K, higher than the county average of $21K and the Iowa average of $30K.
FEMA counts 1 repetitive-loss property and 0 severe repetitive-loss properties in the ZIP (properties with two or more paid flood claims); their locations are not published.
At county level FEMA counts 557 residential flood policies in force, covering 1.3% of residential structures.
Compared with the county and state
| Measure | ZIP 51542 | Pottawattamie | Iowa | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claims since 1978 | 8 | 867 | 14,788 | 2,680,429 |
| Share of claims paid | 88% | 62% | 81% | 78% |
| Average paid claim | $41K | $21K | $30K | $43K |
| Share of county claims | 0.9% | 100% | — | — |
| Repetitive-loss properties | 1 | 40 | 1,104 | — |
Claims by year of loss
| Decade | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0 | $0 |
| 1980s | 0 | $0 |
| 1990s | 0 | $0 |
| 2000s | 1 | $0 |
| 2010s | 7 | $286,768 |
| 2020s | 0 | $0 |
| Year of loss | Claims | Paid claims | Amount paid | Average paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2 | 2 | $34,389 | $17,195 |
| 2017 | 1 | 1 | $1,237 | $1,237 |
| 2015 | 1 | 1 | $1,082 | $1,082 |
| 2011 | 3 | 3 | $250,059 | $83,353 |
| 2007 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
Claims are counted by year of loss as recorded in OpenFEMA's redacted NFIP claims file; amounts combine building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments. ZIP codes in the file are the policyholder's reported ZIP.
County context: Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County has 774 weather events in the NCEI record since 1950 (27 in the last 12 months), 26 federal disaster declarations, and an overall National Risk Index rating of "Relatively Low". Flood-type events recorded in the county: 48; hurricane-strength tracks within 50 miles: 0.
Hail: 260 · Tornado: 57 · Flood: 48 · Wind: 229 · Winter: 91 — full county page.
Questions and answers
How many flood insurance claims have been filed in ZIP 51542?
8 claims since 1978 in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file, 7 of them with a payment.
How much has the NFIP paid out in ZIP 51542?
$287K across 7 paid claims (building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments combined), about $41K per paid claim.
Which year had the most flood claims in 51542?
2011, with 3 claims and $250K paid.
What county is ZIP 51542 in?
Most claims in this ZIP carry the county code for Pottawattamie County, Iowa; ZIP codes can cross county lines. The county page carries the storm record, declarations and risk index for the area.
Provenance
OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (as of 8 Sep 2026) and NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026), aggregated by ZIP code and year of loss on this site; no property-level record is shown. County storm figures from NOAA NCEI through 30 Jun 2026. Built 30 Sep 2026. See the guide to redacted NFIP claims and the methodology.