118
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$17.9M
Property damage
Flash Flood in Polk County, Iowa: 118 recorded events between 1996 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 50. That places the county #123 nationally and #1 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flash Flood in Polk County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flash flood in Polk County is the 2010s, when 73 of the county's 118 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Polk County archive, flash flood makes up 5.5% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #123 for this hazard and #1 within Iowa, putting it in the 96.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for flash flood in Polk County with 48 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 11, 2010 | SANTIAGO | 0 | 1 | 4 | $100K |
| Jul 1, 2018 | ELKHART | 0 | 1 | 0 | $1.0M |
| Feb 19, 1997 | DES MOINES | 0 | 1 | 0 | $30K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 2025 | ASHAWA | 0 | $20K |
| Aug 19, 2022 | DES MOINES | 0 | $10K |
| Aug 19, 2022 | CAPITOL HGTS | 0 | $10K |
| Apr 22, 2022 | ANKENY | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 22, 2022 | ANKENY | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 22, 2022 | ANKENY | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 22, 2020 | WEST DES MOINES | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 23, 2019 | DES MOINES | 0 | $75K |
| Jun 23, 2019 | CAPITOL HGTS | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 23, 2019 | NORWOODVILLE | 0 | $20K |
Other hazards here
More from Polk County
- Thunderstorm Wind 729
- Hail 670
- Heavy Rain 348
- Flood 150
- Tornado 68
- Lightning 42
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Four lower level basement units in an eight unit apartment building were inundated with water and three houses nearby on NW 75th Street were damaged due to fast rising flood waters from North Walnut Creek. Water was chest deep in one apartment with firefighters having to break into apartments with an axe. Water was knee to waist high in the yard of one of the houses. The creek came up in roughly 45 minutes. The nearby Walnut Creek had a record crest early the morning of the 9th.
A home was flooded by Rocklyn Creek which caused a divider wall in the duplex to fail and collapse. Two residents were stuck in side and swam to safety through a downstairs window. The remaining residents were evacuated. Soon after the home exploded due to a gas leak when the wall collapsed. The explosion damaged a few nearby homes as well.
Law enforcement reported roads flooded due to heavy rainfall. Multiple intersections blocked with cars stranded at some locations in Ankeny at this time. Water is above door level and filling up some vehicles. As of 3am, 6 or more intersections are flooded and closed.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flash flood events are on record in Polk County, Iowa?
118 flash flood events are recorded in Polk County between 1996 and 2025, causing 3 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flash flood recorded in Polk County?
The strongest flash flood on record in Polk County measured 50.
Where does the flash flood data for Polk County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flash Flood in Polk County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/polk-county/flash-flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.