366 flood insurance claims·$4.3M 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 Tulare 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 show that standard riverine and localized flooding dominate the flood profile in Tulare County, accounting for 218 events and 5 deaths over the last 30 years compared to 20 flash flood events. Storm systems moving inland from the Pacific Ocean drive these conditions, frequently bringing heavy precipitation, high-elevation mountain snow, and thunderstorms that result in nuisance flooding. Recent documented events include storms on March 2, 2025, and March 17, 2025, which produced localized nuisance flooding alongside mountain snow and thunderstorms. Another system on February 13, 2025, brought moderate to heavy precipitation and additional reports of nuisance flooding.
NFIP insurance claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend beyond designated high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 261 claims averaging $23,541 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. However, properties outside traditional high-risk zones also experience significant impacts; Zone X recorded 37 claims with an average payout of $25,176 and an average water depth of 14 inches, while Zone X shaded recorded 11 claims with an average payout of $29,611 and an average depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated special flood hazard areas and moderate-to-low risk zones should pay close attention to these historical payout and water depth patterns when assessing property vulnerability.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9% of Tulare County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
287 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 9 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 107 claims and $3.2M 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.
204 NOAA storm reports from Tulare County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the California flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 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, Landslides, And Mudslides | Dec 27, 2022 |
| Sqf Fire Complex | Sep 13, 2020 |
| Wildfires | Aug 14, 2020 |
| Pier Fire | Aug 29, 2017 |
| Cedar Fire | Aug 16, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
238 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 218 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Dec 25, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Dec 24, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Oct 14, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 13, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 2, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 26, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Dec 25, 2025. A strong atmospheric river moved through California late on December 23rd into the afternoon of December 24th. Very heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds were observed across most of our County Warning Area (CWA). The heaviest rainfall was observed in Fresno, Mariposa and Kern County. Rainfall ranged from around half inch up to four inches in some localized areas. Flash flooding occurred mainly in eastern Kern Cou…
Flood · Dec 24, 2025. A strong atmospheric river moved through California late on December 23rd into the afternoon of December 24th. Very heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds were observed across most of our County Warning Area (CWA). The heaviest rainfall was observed in Fresno, Mariposa and Kern County. Rainfall ranged from around half inch up to four inches in some localized areas. Flash flooding occurred mainly in eastern Kern Cou…
Flood · Mar 17, 2025. An upper trough and associated cold front pushed through central California on March 17 bringing rain, mountain snow mainly above 6000 feet and gusty winds across the West Side Hills and to portions of eastern Kern County. The precipitation arrived by the morning of March 17 and spread southward through the day. Thunderstorms broke out during the afternoon of March 17 in the cooler and unstable airmass behind the…
Flood · Oct 14, 2025. A deep trough of low pressure area slide in from the Pacific Northwest into Central California. The system brought periods of heavy rainfall across the foothills and heavy snow at higher elevations. Rainfall amounts ranged from half to two inches in 24 hours in some areas. Up to one foot of snow was observed in some locations in Sierra Nevada.
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 Tulare 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.