Floods are becoming an increasing problem for many communities across the nation due to augmented storms and climate change. Many communities are facing repeatedly severe extreme flood events. Local governments are taking initiatives to improve policy-based flood measures in addition to structural mitigation strategies. This localized flooding, which tends to be spatially chronic, provides an opportunity for local governments and policy planners to learn and improve their flood mitigation planning. This study focuses on the policy learning, or change and improvements to policy, of local communities in response to major flood events. Specifically, what factors influence policy learning for flood mitigation within communities. Case studies were reviewed to determine the extent of policy learning and what factors led to effective policy learning. Within the context of key factors that were identified, local policies and mitigation planning were comprehensively and comparatively studied for the City of Ames, Iowa, following the major floods of 1993 and 2010.