52
Recorded events
6
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$13.3M
Property damage
Flood in Butler County, Missouri: 52 recorded events between 1998 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #226 nationally and #17 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flood in Butler County, Missouri: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flood in Butler County is the 2010s, when 26 of the county's 52 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 Butler County archive, flood makes up 10.0% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #226 for this hazard and #17 within Missouri, putting it in the 92.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for flood in Butler County with 11 recorded events, while Sep 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 30, 2009 | STRINGTOWN | 0 | 3 | 1 | $0 |
| May 1, 2017 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | 1 | 0 | $2.5M |
| Apr 30, 2017 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | 1 | 0 | $20K |
| Aug 15, 2016 | HILLARD | 0 | 1 | 0 | $150K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2025 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| May 27, 2024 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 25, 2023 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 4, 2023 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| Jan 4, 2023 | (P02)POPLAR BLUFF AR | 0 | $0 |
| Oct 2, 2021 | HILLARD | 0 | $0 |
| May 25, 2020 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| May 4, 2020 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| Jan 11, 2020 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 20, 2019 | POPLAR BLUFF | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Butler County
- Thunderstorm Wind 181
- Hail 141
- Flash Flood 58
- Tornado 47
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Flooding of roads and creeks was fairly widespread. Numerous county roads were under water. A portion of Highway N was closed. Several water rescues were conducted as motorists drove into flooded areas. Three teenagers drowned after their vehicle went into a flooded creek following a crash with another vehicle. The three high school students were in a vehicle that overturned in a flooded creek after colliding with another vehicle on Highway PP. One of the vehicles hydroplaned and struck the other. The three victims were trapped in the overturned vehicle and had to be extricated. The driver of the other vehicle also went into the water but was able to escape with only minor injuries. The incident occurred on the west edge of Poplar Bluff.
The Black River rose rapidly above flood stage on the 30th, climbing about 14 feet in 18 hours. The flooding reached the major category as the month was closing out. A drowning occurred when a vehicle was swept off a county road outside of Harviell. The drowning victim was a 69-year-old woman, whose body was found inside her vehicle on May 2. The Black River continued rising beyond the end of the month.
Major flooding continued on the St. Francis River from April. At the Fisk river gage, the river crested at 27.10 feet on the evening of May 3. This was the second highest crest on record, exceeded only by a crest of 28.00 feet in April of 1927. The river came within inches of overtopping a levee on the left bank. Much of Fisk was evacuated. At least one house was inaccessible by vehicle because of floodwaters.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flood events are on record in Butler County, Missouri?
52 flood events are recorded in Butler County between 1998 and 2025, causing 6 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flood recorded in Butler County?
The strongest flood on record in Butler County measured 0.
Where does the flood data for Butler 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
“Flood in Butler County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/butler-county/flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.