208 flood insurance claims·$931,258 paid·1 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 Lea County, New Mexico. 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 severe thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Lea County, New Mexico, accounting for 88 out of 93 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 5 general flood events. Meteorological drivers include upper-level disturbances, drylines, cold fronts, and tropical moisture remnants. For example, a slow-moving upper-level low pressure system over a stationary frontal boundary generated repeated rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall causing significant flash flooding on September 2, 2024. Earlier, on May 31, 2024, afternoon thunderstorms merged into a mesoscale convective system that tracked through the region, producing flash flooding alongside damaging winds and large hail.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims are concentrated in specific zones with distinct payout patterns. Zone A accounts for 115 claims with an average payout of $7,301 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Properties with an unknown zone designation account for 83 claims with an average payout of $4,428 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X accounts for 10 claims with a higher average payout of $15,716 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and unmapped or unknown zones, as these areas carry the highest frequency of historical claims associated with convective storm runoff.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Lea County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
115 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 1992, with 75 claims and $548,002 paid, the year of Thunderstorms, Hail & 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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Lea County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New Mexico flood stories →
7 federal disaster declarations since 1992, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 15, 2014 |
| Southeast New Mexico Fire Complex | Jan 1, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Fire Threats | May 5, 2000 |
| Thunderstorms, Hail & Flooding | May 22, 1992 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
93 since 1996: 88 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 29, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 3, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 31, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 2, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 25, 2018 | $8,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2017 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 29, 2025. A disturbance in the quasi-zonal/northwesterly flow aloft, a dryline, and a cold front moving across the northern Permian Basin allowed for the development of scattered thunderstorms across Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. Thunderstorm coverage continued to increase into the afternoon and evening, and a number of storms became severe. The strongest storm of the day was in Dawson and Howard counties. This storm…
Flood · Jul 3, 2025. Anomalously high moisture associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry encouraged the development of tropical downpours across West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. These downpours resulted in Flash Flooding for portions of the area.
Flash Flood · May 31, 2024. Afternoon severe thunderstorms would develop across eastern New Mexico and merge into an MCS that would track through portions of southeast New Mexico and the Permian Basin late in the evening. An outflow boundary from other thunderstorms would also initiate a few supercells ahead of the MCS. Damaging winds, flash flooding, and large hail were all reported with these thunderstorms.
Flash Flood · May 16, 2024. A positively tilted shortwave trough lifting out of the Four Corners and a stalled cold front over the Permian Basin aided in afternoon thunderstorm development. Numerous thunderstorms formed along and north of the cold front and became an intense squall line with damaging winds.
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 Lea 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.