113 flood insurance claims·$1.1M paid·2 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around La Paz County, Arizona. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in La Paz County, accounting for 125 recorded events and two deaths over the last 30 years compared to just 8 standard flood events.
Recent weather patterns illustrate this hazard, such as the July 2025 event driven by subtropical moisture combined with daytime heating, and the September 2025 event fueled by moisture from Tropical Cyclone Mario and an upper-level low that produced widespread, heavy rainfall.
Property owners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to areas with unmapped or undefined risks, as Zone UNKNOWN has recorded the highest number of National Flood Insurance Program claims at 57, with an average payout of $12,806 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Significant claims also occur outside high-risk areas, including 33 claims in unshaded Zone X averaging $21,475 with an average water depth of 2 inches, and 18 claims in Zone A averaging $10,077 with a 2-inch average water depth.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
67% of La Paz County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
54 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1983, with 71 claims and $814,045 paid, the year of Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
98 NOAA storm reports from La Paz County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arizona flood stories →
7 federal disaster declarations since 1983, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 7, 2014 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Jan 18, 2010 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Oct 21, 2000 |
| Flooding | Jun 16, 1983 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
133 since 1996: 125 flash floods and 8 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 18, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 2, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Sep 2, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 2, 2023 | $15,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 18, 2025. The combination of an upper-level low off the CA coast and the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Mario resulted in a significant moisture increase with PWATs increasing upwards of 1.8-2.0 across most of southwest AZ. The aforementioned features also provided strong upper-level forcing to result in widespread showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon hours. With MLCAPE values maxing out at 1500 J/kg along with the…
Flash Flood · Aug 15, 2025. The combination of an upper-level trough situated across the west coast and the subtropical high pressure situated over the Central Plains resulted in a south to southwest flow across the region. The combination of 500 mb temperatures near -8C and PWATs ranging between 1.3-1.5 inches resulted in MLCAPE values in excess of 1000 J/KG. A Mesoscale Convective Complex moving northward from Mexico triggered showers and…
Flash Flood · Jun 4, 2025. Remnant moisture plume from a tropical system with precipitable water values between 1.0-1.4, which for early June is near record levels, combined with a series of low pressure systems that affected the Desert Southwest to result in periods of showers and thunderstorms between June 1-4. The first round of rainfall activity was observed across south-central AZ during the overnight hours of June 1-2, with observed a…
Flash Flood · Jul 2, 2025. The combination of the subtropical high over the Four Corners/Rockies and an area of low pressure near the southern CA coastline resulted in a modest southeasterly flow that advected modest amounts of moisture across much of central and southern AZ. With the moisture advection, PWAT values increased upwards of 1.3-1.5. This moisture quantity in combination with strong daytime heating led to moderate instability as…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in La Paz County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.