10 flood insurance claims·$150,801 paid·8 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 Kings County, California. 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.
Long-term records for Kings County indicate that standard riverine and general flooding dominates the local risk profile, accounting for 34 of the past 30 years of recorded events compared to 6 flash flood events. Recent history underscores this pattern, including a strong low pressure system on January 9 and 23 that brought a deep moisture fetch of tropical origin and widespread heavy precipitation, as well as a low pressure system on February 1, 2024, that pulled up a surge of tropical moisture to drop moderate to heavy precipitation across the area.
National Flood Insurance Program records highlight distinct financial risks between zones. Properties located in FEMA Zone A have averaged 5 claims with an average payout of $49,518 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. By comparison, properties in Zone X have averaged 5 claims with a significantly lower average payout of $2,246 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A, where historical claims reflect substantially higher average flood insurance payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
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 2023, with 3 claims and $138,454 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides, Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides and Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides.
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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Kings County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 8 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Mar 9, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 21, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Jan 8, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Feb 1, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Debris And Mud Flows | Dec 17, 2010 |
| Severe Freeze | Jan 11, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Citrus Crop Damage 2/2/99 | Dec 20, 1998 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
40 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 34 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 13, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 1, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 24, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 20, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 19, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Apr 17, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jan 10, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 13, 2024. A large upper low pressure system approached the central California coast on April 13 spreading increased clouds and precipitation into the interior of central California during the afternoon while temperatures plummeted as a cooler airmass pushed into the area. The most noticeable impact rom this system was strong wind gusts which accompanied the main cold front. Several reports of wind gusts exceeding 45 mph wer…
Flood · Feb 1, 2024. The strong low pressure system which approached the area on January 31 pulled up a deep surge of tropical moisture which brought moderate to heavy precipitation to much of the area on February 1 through the morning of February 2. Much of the San Joaquin Valley, West Side Hills and Tehachapi Mountains measured between 0.75 inches and 1.50 inches of rainfall while the Sierra Foothills picked up 1 to 2 inches of rain…
Flood · Feb 24, 2023. A large cold upper low pressure system dropped slowly southward off the California coast on February 24 and 25. This system brought 1.5 to 3 inches of liquid precipitation between the early morning of February 24 and the late morning of February 25 to the Sierra Nevada and adjacent foothills as well as to the Tehachapi Mountains and the San Joaquin Valley. This was a cold storm with snow levels lowering from aroun…
Flood · Dec 20, 2023. An upper level low dropped slowly southward off the California coast on between December 19 and December 21. Moisture associated with this feature produced widespread precipitation across our area between the evening of December 19 and the morning of December 21 with most of the precipitation occurring during the afternoon and evening of December 20. Much of the San Joaquin Valley and the Kern County Mountains and…
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 Kings 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.